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President Akufo-Addo in a hand shake with Mr Mohamadou Issoufou, President of Niger, at the ceremony.
President Akufo-Addo in a hand shake with Mr Mohamadou Issoufou, President of Niger, at the ceremony.

Endorse road map for roll out of single currency – Akufo-Addo urges ECOWAS

Member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have reaffirmed their commitment to meet the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme deadline by 2020.

A communique issued at the end of the fifth meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme in Accra on Wednesday affirmed a gradual approach to achieving the objective of single currency for the sub-region.

It also urged member states to meet the convergence criteria for the establishment of a single currency for the region to start the monetary union.

Task Force meeting

Opening the meeting earlier, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo noted that the introduction of a single currency in West Africa would, among other things, help remove trade and monetary barriers, reduce transaction costs, boost economic activity, and raise the living standards of the peoples of the region.

 “It is a goal we must achieve. In this regard, I urge ECOWAS member states to renew their commitment to the ratification and implementation of the relevant ECOWAS Protocols such as the Protocols on the free movement of persons, goods and services, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), and the Common External Tariff (CET),” President Akufo-Addo stressed.

President Akufo-Addo noted that it had been nearly 20 years since the idea for the establishment of a single currency for ECOWAS was proposed.

“We have had challenges along the way towards the attainment of the convergence criteria required for the single currency to come into effect. We have also chalked up some significant successes to this end. Nonetheless, we remain determined to have a single currency,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Co-chair

The President, who is also a co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Single Currency was joined by his colleague co-chair, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Presidents Alassane Ouattara and Faure Gnassingbe of Ivory Coast and Togo respectively, while the President of Nigeria, President Buhari who could not attend, was represented by the Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank.

 President Akufo-Addo also entreated his fellow presidents of ECOWAS to give presidential assent to the implementation of the revised roadmap that would be adopted at the meeting of the task force.

Background

During the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on October 25, 2013, the Presidents of Ghana and Niger were appointed to oversee the creation of the single currency in a timely manner.

The two Presidents constituted a Task Force, whose membership included representatives of the President of Ghana and Niger; Ministers of Finance of Ghana and Niger; Governors of the eight Central Banks of ECOWAS member States; ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions; West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) and the West African Monetary Institute, to advise them periodically on the monetary integration programme.

The membership of the task force was reviewed in 2015 to include the Presidents of Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, as well as the Ministers of Finance of the two countries. 

The inaugural meeting of the Presidential Task force was held on February 20 and 21, 2014 in Niamey.

Subsequently, two other meetings were held in Accra on July 7 and 8, 2014, with the last meeting held in Niamey in October last year.

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