ABIDJAN ¨C Ghana is determined to join a new West African currency, called the Eco, which is expected to replace the CFA Franc as early as 2020, according to a statement from the presidency.
¡°It will help remove trade and monetary barriers, reduce transaction costs, boost economic activity, and raise the living standards of our people,¡± Sunday¡¯s statement read.
On Dec. 21 Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara announced that the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union, made up of mainly Francophone countries and Guinea Bissau, would discontinue the use of the CFA Franc in favor of a new common currency.
The union will keep its euro peg, while currency reserves currently in France will be moved. The former colonial power will also no longer have a seat on the board of the central bank.
Ghana urged members of Ecowas, or the 15-member Economic Community of West African States, to work rapidly toward implementing the decisions taken by the regional body, including the adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime, instituting a federal system for the Ecowas Central Bank, and other related agreed convergence criteria.
Ghana is a member of Ecowas but not the West African monetary union.
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