The Government of Ghana, says it will ‘soon’ adopt the use of the new Eco common currency, declared by the Union to be introduced in 2020.
Ghanaian government, in a statement by the Director of Communication, Eugene Arhin, said the decision is a good testimony to the importance that is being attached not only to the establishment of a monetary union but also to the larger agenda of West African integration.
President of West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), who is also President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, had informed French President, Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Ivory Coast, on December 22, that eight Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS) countries had agreed to change the name of their common currency to ‘Eco’ and stop the use of the CFA franc’s linked to former colonial ruler France.
According to Arhin, “This is a welcome decision, which Ghana warmly applauds. It is a good testimony to the importance that is being attached not only to the establishment of a monetary union but also to the larger agenda of West African integration.
“We, in Ghana, are determined to do whatever we can to enable us to join the Member States of UEMOA, soon, in the use of the ECO, as, we believe, it will help remove trade and monetary barriers, reduce transaction costs, boost economic activity, and raise the living standards of our people.”
The Ghanaian government urged other Member State of ECOWAS to work rapidly towards implementing the decisions of the authorities, including “adopting a flexible exchange rate regime, instituting a federal system for the ECOWAS Central Bank, and other related agreed convergence criteria, to ensure that we achieve the single currency objectives of ECOWAS, as soon as possible, for all Member States.
“We have a historic opportunity to create a new reality for the peoples of ECOWAS, a reality of general prosperity and progress. So, let us seize it,” it stressed.
