There are 16 countries that make up West Africa. They are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
That depends on what country in "west africa" you are talking about. South Africa is a country, where as west Africa could be defined as anything on the western coast of the continent.