By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
File Photo:Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
A group of fifteen West African countries have adopted a new road map to launch a single currency in 2027 after its previous plans were derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The new road map was agreed by heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, president of the ECOWAS Commission, told a news conference after a summit of the leaders in Ghana on Saturday
The countries hope a single currency will help to boost trade and economic growth.
The bloc had planned to launch a common currency this year but postponed the plan due to challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said the pandemic had upset plans to implement the convergence pact.
“We have a new road map and a new convergence pact that will cover the period between 2022-2026, and 2027 being the launch of the eco,” he said.
The currency, known as ECO aims to replace the CFA Franc used in former French colonies. Proponents of the ECO say it will help countries break dependence and exploitation by on Paris.
But some countries such as Nigeria and Ivory Coast have been accused of dragging their feet on the issue.
Nigeria, the largest economy in West Africa, currently operates a managed float for its currency, while eight others including top cocoa producer Ivory Coast, use the France-backed CFA, pegged to the euro.
The summit also discussed Mali’s political crisis.
The bloc suspended Mali after a coup that toppled the country’s transitional government in late May.
Junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita has since been sworn in as president and activist Choguel Maiga as prime minister.
But the summit did not lift Bamako’s suspension despite noting ‘positive developments’.
Goita has vowed to stick to the old transaction schedule which prescribes elections and a return to civilian rule in February 2022.