The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to dump its plans for a single currency, known as the ECO, at least for now, after years of struggles to actualise the plan.
This was disclosed by Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Junior, Co-chair of the ECOWAS joint committees on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights, Political Affairs, Peace, Security, and African Peer Review Mechanism (MAEP), Legal and Human Rights, Trade Customs and Free Movement, during an interview with journalists in Banjul, Gambia at the weekend.
The single currency initiative, which was first proposed in the late 1990s, aimed to simplify transactions, reduce currency exchange hassles, and promote economic growth and development among the 15 member states.
However, the idea gained more traction in 2000 when the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) was established to work towards creating a single currency for the region.
MP Snowe Junior discussed the political challenges encountered in actualising the single currency initiative.
“The single currency is a work in progress. It has its own political implications.
He explained it as a complex situation, as the English-speaking countries have had little or less problems with the initiative, but the French-speaking countries have faced significant challenges due to their currency reserves being held in France rather than in West Africa or Africa.
In light of these challenges, ECOWAS is now proposing a single currency for Anglophone countries and another for Francophone countries.
“That is why sometimes we propose that Nigeria, which is the hub of our region, in addition to Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Sierra Leone, could have one currency for now.
“Then, the Francophone countries could have another currency. Then you can ask Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde to join either the Francophone or Anglophone so that we have two currencies for now.
“And then, over the years, those two currencies can migrate into a single currency,” the senator said.
He said political instability in the region has halted consideration of two currency proposals, but the focus will be shifted to resolving the region’s security situation before resuming the single currency issue.
