West Africa is a region on the African continent in Sub-Saharan Africa, made up of 16 distinct countries; Benin,Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. These countries have varied political and socio-economic histories, ranging from the impact of years of colonial rule and then from military to democratic government.

The history of this region has impacted governance and development systems, including how citizens are
engaged with the governance process and how the governments are perceived due to mistrust.

Consequently, West Africa has encountered distinctive challenges that hindered the development of civic technology (CivicTech) solutions and limited their potential for technological advancement. Nevertheless, the few civic tech tools available have helped to improve issues around healthcare, governance, transparency and accountability, amongst others, which has been a bane in development in most countries in West Africa.