ABIDJAN- The government of Ghana says it is determined to join a currency for West Africa to replace the CFA Franc in eight regional countries as soon as next year and it urged currency union members to ditch a planned euro peg.
The adoption of the new currency called eco in Ghana will make it the country the largest economy on the bloc, pushing it ahead of Ivory Coast.
Ghana currently has its own currency called the cedi and it is not part of the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) which consists of the former French colonies which use the CFA Franc.
This month, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced that the monetary union in West Africa decided to cut a few financial links with Paris which have underpinned the common currency since World War Two.
As per the deal, the bloc’s African countries need not keep half the reserved in the French Treasury. The currency’s union board also no longer needs a French representative.
In a statement, President Nana Akufo-Addo’s office said that Ghana is determined to do whatever enables them to join UEMOA Member States soon. The use of eco, they believe, shall remove monetary and trade barriers. The statement also indicated that Ghana opposed plans to keep the new currency pegged to euro and urged regional authorities to adopt a flexible exchange rate regime.
Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast, Togo and Senegal are the countries which are to switch to the eco from the CFA Franc. All of the countries except Guinea-Bissau are former French colonies.
The currency is expected to be up and running by the end of 2020 according to the group.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.