Following World War II, protests against European rule sprung up across West Africa, most notably in Ghana under the Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah1909-1972). Ghana became the first country of sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence in 1957, with others soon to follow. After a decade of protests, riots and clashes, French West Africa voted for autonomy in a 1958 referendum, dividing into the states of today; the British colonies gained autonomy the following decade. In 1973, Guinea-Bissau proclaimed its independence from Portugal, and was internationally recognized following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. (

Since independence, West Africa has suffered from the same problems as much of the African continent, particularly dictatorships, political corruption and military coups. At the time of his death in 2005, for example, Togo's Étienne Eyadéma was among the world's longest-serving dictators. Inter-country conflicts have been few, with Mali and Burkina Faso's nearly bloodless Agacher Strip War being a rare exception. The region has, however, seen a number of bloody civil wars, including the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), two civil wars in Liberia in 1989 and 1999, a decade of fighting in Sierra Leone from 1991-2002, a Tuareg Rebellion in Niger and Mali in the early 1990s, and an ongoing conflict in Côte d'Ivoire that began in 2002.

In the 1990s, AIDS became a significant problem for the region, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Nigeria.

Famine has been an occasional but serious problem in northern Mali and Niger, particularly during the Sahel drought of the 1970s and 80s. Niger is currently undergoing another food crisis that could develop into another major famine.