West Africa: Reasons for Nigeria's Seeming Reluctance On Ecowas Single Currency

In 2000, the countries of West Africa expressed their desire to speed up the process of monetary integration initiated in the early 1980s, crystallized in a project for the two-phased creation of a single currency in West Africa. Under this plan, in its first phase, a single currency called ECO was to be launched by Member States of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) in January 2015.

In the second phase, WAMZ was to merge with West African Monetary Union (WAMU) to create a single currency in all fifteen ECOWAS Member States in 2020. After three postponements in 2003, 2005 and 2009, West African authorities finally in July 2014 gave up launching ECO in January 2015, due to insufficient preparation and economic convergence among Member States of WAMZ.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.