(Ecofin Agency) – The ECOWAS countries had decided to postpone the effective creation of their single currency until 2027, but Nigeria, the zone’s largest economy, is gradually emerging from its challenges and the consensus between countries must be further strengthened.
The President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, Friday in his speech on the occasion of the first meeting of the strategic partnership between his country and Ghana, invited the ECOWAS countries to accelerate the efforts necessary for the advent of the ECO, the single currency project for this sub-region.
« Our two countries must work jointly, and in conjunction with other countries in the region, to accelerate reforms and implement convergence policies, with a view to strengthening our monetary and financial cooperation. This will allow the advent of the Eco, the single currency that the populations of West Africa have been waiting for for a long time. », Said the Ivorian president in his speech.
According to local media, Alassane Ouattara added that he wanted this single currency process to be effective “ no later than 2026 », and that Côte d’Ivoire is ready to comply with the convergence requirements from the year 2025. These declarations are made while the institutional steps continue with a view to respecting the date of 2027 for the definitive adoption of the ‘Eco as currency in the sub-region.
A final meeting on the issue was held on September 20, 2024 in Guinea Conakry, with the participation of finance ministers and central bank officials from the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ). The final communiqué of the meeting shows that there are still efforts to be made to harmonize the points of view between the different parties.
The ECOWAS single currency project is being built between countries with different levels of economic strength, where Nigeria dominates, ahead of Ghana and UEMOA which represents a single monetary zone.
To this we must add other countries, such as Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Conakry which display levels of compliance still far from the convergence criteria. More recently, the situation has become more complex with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which are still members of UEMOA, but have unilaterally begun their exit from ECOWAS, while creating an entity known as Alliance of Sahel States.
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07/14/2023 – ECOWAS – Single currency: the deployment of the Eco still faces questions of form
12/07/2023 – The devaluation of the Nigerian naira relaunches the debate on the CFA franc and the common ECOWAS currency
01/25/2021 – ECO/AfCFTA: ECOWAS announces new resolutions on its single currency and on the single African market project
04/03/2020 – ECO: Nigeria’s reversals complicate the transition to the ECOWAS single currency
02/20/2020 – A single currency for the 15 ECOWAS member states is unlikely in the medium term, according to Standard & Poors
13/12/2019 – ECOWAS: the deadline for a single currency in 2020 is moving away
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