La Société Ouest-Africaine de Chimie, 4^e Journées annuelles, Cotonou, 3-7 août 1998

The West-African Chemical Society (Saochim) was created in 1994 by nine West-African countries (Benin, Burkina-Faso, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo). The aim of this society is to develop chemical sciences in that part of the world, either from the research and the educational points of view. Four means of communication are used: seminars, an information bulletin, The West-African Chemical Society Journal, and the annual Soachim Congress, the last one took place in Cotonou (Benin) last August.

This article establishes a report of this Congress, and tries to give information about the chemistry sciences in Sub-Saharian West-Africa. It also stresses the importance for the African universities, to establish cooperative links with occidental laboratories.