West Africa Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including: The Economic Community of West African States, established in May 1975, has defined the region of West Africa since 1999 as including the following 15 states: Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Western Africa includes the preceding states with the addition of Mauritania (which withdrew from ECOWAS in 1999), comprising an area of approximately 6.1 million square km. The UN region also includes the island of Saint Helena, a British overseas
Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa non-governmental accountancy bodies in West African countries are encouraged to join the association. ABWA initiated the Accounting Technicians Scheme, West Africa, which provides a recognized professional qualification for supporting staff of Chartered Accountants. Examinations for this qualification are held on the same day each year in centers throughout the region. In May 2011 The Gambia Association of Accountancy ran a three-day "Train the trainer" seminar on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for trainers from The Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon. The seminar was supported by the World Bank under the umbrella of