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In Africa, boundaries delineated during the colonial era now divide young in-dependent states. By applying regression discontinuity designs to a large set of surveys covering the 1986-2001 period, this paper identi ̄es many large and significant jumps in welfare at the borders between West-African countries around Cote d'Ivoire. Border discontinuities mirror the differences between country averages with respect to household income, connection to utilities and education. Country of residence often makes a difference, even if distance to capital city has some attenuating power. The results are consistent with a national integrationprocess that is underway but not yet achieved.