During the summer of 2010 two workshops where held in Dakar Senegal and Lagos Nigeria to address research and operational aspects as it relates to coastal processes, hazards and forecasts. In addition, students in Senegal and Ghana also participated in an out to sea cruise for routine coastal measurements and remote sensing exercises. 19 participants from 7 countries participated in the Senegal Workshop while more than 40 participants from multiple West African countries participated in the Nigeria workshop. Hazards for Senegal workshop included mesoscale convective systems (lightning), Saharan Dust events and coastal cyclones. Coastal hazards for the Nigeria workshop included: coastal flooding, landslides, storm surge, coastal erosion, violent storms, oil spills and marine pollution. Tools for forecasters and researchers were identified from the workshop to help in a region that is observation poor with many stakeholders and large coastal urban centers. The summary of the workshop and the challenges will be presented.