Leaders of the West African sub-region have decided to speed up efforts at institutionalizing a common currency for bloc after meeting in Niamey, Niger.
The 4th meeting of the Presidential Taskforce on the common currency for the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) was attended by the members of the Presidential Taskforce.
These leaders include the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari; the President of the Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara; and the host, Mahamadou Issoufou, of Niger.
Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé who is the President of the Togo was also in attendance despite the political crisis in his country.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the 1-day meeting, on Tuesday, the members of the Taskforce said they were happy with “the progress made by all ECOWAS institutions involved in the conduct of ECOWAS Single Currency Roadmap activities”.
The leaders “reaffirmed” their “commitment to the pursuit and the acceleration of the economic, financial and monetary integration agenda of ECOWAS”.
The ECOWAS leaders also in a statement urged “Member States to pursue the structural reforms of their respective economies, to help them deal with fluctuations in the prices of raw materials, and enable their economies to be more resilient to exogenous shocks”.
The Communiqué noted that the Taskforce has “instructed the Ministerial committee to meet within three months to propose a new roadmap to accelerate the creation of the single currency by 2020. In this framework, a gradual approach can be undertaken, where a few countries, which are ready, can start the monetary union, whilst the other countries join later.”
The Presidential Task Force will hold their next meeting in Accra, in February 2018.
Source: Africafeeds.com
