As of 2011 there were ten West African accounting institutes represented in ABWA.

[1] The association was established on 10 August 1982 in Lagos, Nigeria, and was registered as a corporation in 1994.

ABWA was initially collocated with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (lCAN) in Lagos.

Recognized non-governmental accountancy bodies in West African countries are encouraged to join the association.

[4] 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.