Ecowas and introduction of single currency in West Africa
Problems and prospects
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21527482 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Zhambikov (0009-0001-2865-1214, Institute for African Studies, corresponding author), Alexander M Zhambikov |
| Year | 2020 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 54 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asia and Africa today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0321-5075 • E-ISSN: 2782-2389 |
| Publisher | The Russian Academy of Sciences (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.31857/s032150750008721-5 |
| OpenAlex | W3044010328 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
The article describes the project of introducing single currency in the ECOWAS, its reasons, current situation, problems and prospects. The description outlines that although the idea of monetary integration has been discussed by the Community for more than 30 years, it has not yet been put in practice. Within the ECOWAS, there is already one common currency (franc CFA) created by France in 1945 and used by eight member states of West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) until now. The analysis includes various aspects of monetary reform of franc CFA, changing its name to eco and positions of different ECOWAS countries towards the ongoing transformation. Supported by France, the UEMOA has announced its intention to replace the unpopular “franc CFA” by “eco” that is already designed for a future ECOWAS single currency. As a guarantor, France waived some of its old requirements for common currency users, but is still ready to assist the UEMOA in case of crisis. The fixation of eco rate to euro is planned to be maintained. The most outstanding contradiction of ECOWAS and UEMOA projects is whether the rate of eco should be flexible and independent from any currency or fixed to euro (as franc CFA at the moment). Special attention is paid to political component of the transformation and possible scenarios for future. The conclusion is that adoption of ECOWAS single currency in the near future is unlikely. Moreover, even in case of success the project will not be a panacea for socio-economic problems of the Community
Business · Currency · Economic and monetary union · Economic community · Economic policy · Economics · Economy · European union · International economics · Monetary economics · Political science · Single currency · Single market · Global Financial Crisis and Policies · International Development and Aid
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |