The West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) is an autonomous and specialised agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It was established in 1996 as a result of the transformation of the West African Clearing House (WACH). WACH was established in 1975 to serve as a multilateral payment facility to promote trade within the West Africa region. In addition to its functions of routing and clearing trade transactions and services, the Agency has been charged with the responsibility of monitoring, coordinating and implementing the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme (EMCP), geared towards the creation of a single currency for ECOWAS.
WAMA comprise the eight Central Banks of ECOWAS Member States. These are: the BCEAO (the common central Bank of seven francophone and one lusophone country), Bank of Cape Verde, Central Bank of The Gambia, Bank of Ghana, Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea, Central Bank of Liberia, Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Sierra Leone.
2. PURPOSE
WAMA is committed to achieving the highest standards of corporate governance relating to both the effectiveness of the Agency and its accountability to its stakeholders. The Corporate Governance Charter provides a summary of the rules and principles on which the governance of WAMA is organized. It is based on the provisions of the Protocol A/P.1/7/93 Relating to WAMA and the Articles of Agreement of WAMA and best practice. This document should be read together with the Protocol, the Articles, the Code of Conduct, staff rules , the financial regulations and decisions of the Committee of Governors.