Africa: Should we continue the transition from CFA to ECO?
The President of the Republic of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara announced on December 21st 2019, in the presence of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, that the WAEMU countries will adopt a new currency, the ECO, to replace the CFA franc. The monetary future of West Africa was thus under discussion. Several sub-points were debated by the imminent African researchers.
But the current context in most French-speaking African countries raises the following question: «Is the transition from the CFA Francs to the ECO a topical issue»?
At a conference held in Ouagadougou on September 4th, the Center for Economic and Social Policy Analysis (CAPES) raised the issue of the monetary sovereignty and political independence of ECOWAS countries around the central theme of political and monetary sovereignty in the ECOWAS zone: should the transition from the CFA to the ECO continue?
During the meeting, a number of questions were raised: «How will the ECO differ from the CFA Franc in guaranteeing the monetary sovereignty of member states? »; «How should the ECO be anchored in order to be compatible with the new partners on the horizon?»; «How should budgetary policy and monetary policy be linked?»; «If the process of integration towards the ECO does not continue, what could be the alternatives for countries in crisis (Mali, Burkina, Niger and Guinea) in the conquest of their political and monetary sovereignty?
For the Executive Director of CAPES, the economic sanctions imposed by ECOWAS on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Guinea provide an ideal opportunity to reflect on this transition.
«All this justifies the need for forward thinking on the relevance of continuing the process towards ECO within the framework of ECOWAS», he said.
In his view, these sanctions must be implemented through the economic, and therefore monetary, channel.
Africa, resolutely committed to restoring its integrity, must assert its monetary sovereignty.
This new currency was clearly designed to enable the various states to continue trading with their Western partners.
Is it still necessary to move towards a currency that gives signals of still being the CFA?
Pedro OKALAMAR
