Femi Adesina, Special Advisor to the President of Nigeria, said President Muhammadu Buhari also expressed concern over the decision of the French-speaking countries that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Uemoa) to replace the CFA Franc with Eco before the rest of the member states. He expressed Nigeria’s position on the new regional currency at the special virtual meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
The meeting discussed the implementation of the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Program (EMCP) and the ECOWAS Single Currency Agenda.
For President Buhari, quoted by his advisor Adesina, everyone knows “The history of Eco so far, so I’m not going to bore you with that. We have returned to a single track approach, abandoning Eco which is the original idea of the West African Monetary Zone so that the ECOWAS-wide program can flourish.
In this regard, we have made remarkable progress, including the adoption of the exchange rate regime, the name and model of the Joint Central Bank, and the symbol. We urged our ministers to quickly embark on the path to success. So it gives me an embarrassing feeling that the Uemoa zone now wants to take over the Eco to replace its CFA Franc before the rest of the Member States.
This is in addition to the deviation from the Community Act on the coherent achievement of convergence in the three years preceding the introduction of the currency and from our subsequent strengthening directives.
I am informed that the French ministers have approved a reform bill for the F.CFA and most, if not all of the member states of Uemoa, have already adopted legislation to this effect in their different parliaments. It is worrying that a people with whom we wish to join a Union are taking these important steps without trusting us for discussion.”
President Buhari, who assured ECOWAS leaders of Nigeria’s commitment to the ECOWAS single currency, then urged them to critically examine the recommendations made by the Convergence Council and to adopt a position in order to protect the West African Monetary Zone from the traps of a dubious union.
He affirmed Nigeria’s support for a monetary union with the right foundations, which guarantee global regional credibility, sustainability, prosperity and sovereignty.
President Buhari says Nigeria also believes that given the potential contractions and even the losses associated with the global Covid-19 pandemic, member states can only be overly cautious about meeting standards established.
“We cannot make fun of ourselves by joining a Union to disintegrate, potentially at the earliest when we enter it. We need to be clear and unequivocal about our position on this process. We must also communicate them effectively to the outside world. We have all staked so much on this project to leave things for convenience.
My dear colleagues, heads of state and government, it is obvious that we are at a crossroads. We must proceed cautiously and follow the agreed process to achieve our collective goal while treating each other with the utmost respect. Without this, our ambitions for a strategic monetary union as a bloc of ECOWAS could very well be seriously threatened”, he said.
In light of the caution expressed by Nigeria and some other West African countries at the meeting, ECOWAS leaders decided to convene an enlarged regional bloc meeting on the issue of the single currency.
