Skip to main content

ECOWAS Finance Ministers, Governors discuss future of ECO

Finance and Economic Ministers and Central Bank Governors in West Africa have expressed reservations about the recent renaming of the common currency for member countries in the Francophone zone (CFA Franc) to ECO.
They described the action as a "unilateral" decision that was not in line with the requirements for the adoption of the ECO as a common currency for the West African sub-region.
In a communiqué issued on Thursday, after an extraordinary meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, the ministers and governors, including Ghana's Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, and Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who constitute the Convergence Council of the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ), also called for an extraordinary meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of WAMZ Member States to discuss the matter further.

‘Noted with concern’
According to the communiqué, the meeting “noted with concern” the December 21, 2019 declaration by Ivorian President, Mr Alasane Ouattarra, that the CFA Franc had been renamed as ECO — the proposed single currency that has eluded the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region since 2000.The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Guinea, Mr Mamadi Camara, and attended by the Finance and Economic Ministers and Central Bank Governors of Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The six countries form the WAMZ.

Declaration
“While we applaud the decision to delink the CFA, the meeting noted with concern the declaration by His Excellence Alassane Ouattara, the Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAMEU) on December 21, 2019, to unilaterally rename the CFA Franc as ECO by 2020.”
"WAMZ Convergence Council wishes to emphasise that this action is not in line with the decision of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS for the adoption of the ECO as the name of the ECOWAS single currency," the communiqué said.
It also reiterated the importance of member countries of the ECOWAS to adhere to the decision of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS towards the execution of the revised roadmap for the single currency programme.
In June last year, the authority, which is the highest decision-making body of ECOWAS, agreed that member countries that met the convergence criteria may swap their local currencies for the proposed ECO beginning January 1, 2020

Extraordinary meeting
The communiqué then called for an extraordinary meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of WAMZ member states "soon to further discuss this matter and other related issues."
The communiqué is the first response by Anglophone West Africa to the announcement by the Ivorian President that the CFA Franc would be renamed ECO, among other reforms to the monetary system of the WAEMU.

The CFA Franc was used by eight countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, in the WAEMU subregion.
Meanwhile, at the ECOWAS summit in June last year, the leaders agreed that the earlier plan to adopt the ECO in all member countries in 2020 would remain and that they would further roll out a plan to help members meet the required criteria.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CK Akonnor wins dismissal case against Kotoko, Ghanaian giants ordered to pay compensation

Asante Kotoko are expected to CK Akonnor a hefty compensation after the former coach won his case for wrongful dismissal against the club on Monday. The Player Status Committee has ruled the Porcupine Warriors breached the terms of his contract. The ex-Ghana international was sacked in July this year, just nine months into his three-year contract. He dragged the club to the Ghana Football Association demanding his 2 years salary, league trophy cash, and CAF Confederations Cup group stage entitlements. The Player Status Committee ruled that the club was not justified in terminating the contract of the former Hearts of Oak gaffer. Both parties are yet to be furnished with a copy of the ruling. Akonnor rejected an offer to head the club’s technical directorate and left his post under bitter circumstances. The gaffer had been in charge for a close to a year having had stints with Kotoko sworn rivals Hearts of Oak and regional rivals Ashantigold. He had also coached D...
Post a Comment
Read more

Full History of the living Legend Dag Heward-Mills on Personality Library (Edition 1b)

Dag Heward-Mills was born on the 14 May 1963 to a Swiss mother and Ghanaian father (Nathaniel and Elizabeth Heward-Mills) in London, United Kingdom. He moved with his family soon after his birth to Accra Ghana and has spent his entire life in Ghana. He was converted to Christianity while having his secondary education at Achimota School.  He joined Christian youth campaigns such as the Scripture Union as well as the Calvary Road Singers (which later became Harvest Chapel International immediately after his conversion. He proceeding to the University of Ghana Medical School, where he was trained as a medical doctor.  He started the Light House Chapel International while still a student in Medical school, having felt a strong call of God to start a church. In his fifth year of Medical School, Dag started the church in a little classroom in the School of Hygiene, Korle-Bu, with no more than 15 members. Amidst persecutions in various forms and with his academic work dema...
3 comments
Read more

Today In History: Kwame Nkrumah arrives in Guinea After the Coup

When news of the coup reached him, Nkrumah was in Peking (today’s Beijing) en route to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, with plans to end the American war in Vietnam. Leaders of four African countries sent Nkrumah immediate messages of support and invitations. They were the presidents of Egypt (Gamal Abdel Nasser), Mali (Modibo Keita), Guinea (Sekou Toure), and Tanzania (Julius Nyerere). Nkrumah decided to accept Sekou Toure’s invitation. The government of Guinea shared Nkrumah’s Pan-African objectives, encompassing the liberation of the African people from all forms of social injustice and economic exploitation. There also existed a strong brotherly bond between Nkrumah and Sekou Toure. In addition, Guinea was closest to Ghana, to where Nkrumah was determined to return to carry on his work. Sekou Toure came to the rescue of Kwame Nkrumah, the deposed of Ghana and invited him to Guinea where he arrived on March 2, 1966, together with his bodyguards and a few civil servants w...
Post a Comment
Read more