Eco:Single Currency Could Be In Serious Jeopardy -Buhari

By Olamilekan Alani

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, said the plan for single currency, Eco, could be in serious jeopardy,” unless member states complied with agreed processes of reaching the collective goal.

He said the plan for the single currency, Eco, could be in serious jeopardy,” unless member states complied with agreed processes of reaching the collective goal.

The Eco is the proposed name for the common currency that the West African Monetary Zone plans to introduce in the framework of ECOWAS.

After its introduction, the goal is to merge the new currency with the West African CFA franc used by most French-speaking members of ECOWAS since 1945.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President delivered Nigeria’s position on the new regional currency at a virtual extraordinary meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone.

The meeting was said to have discussed the implementation of the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme and the ECOWAS Single Currency Agenda.

Buhari was said to have expressed concern over the decision of francophone countries that form the West African Economic and Monetary Union to replace the CFA Franc with Eco ahead of the rest of member states.

He recalled that member states reverted to a single-track approach, giving up Eco which is the original idea of the WAMZ so the ECOWAS-wide programme could thrive.

He added that they have made remarkable progress, including the adoption of the exchange rate regime, the name, and model of the common Central Bank and the symbol.