Parliamentary Workshop on the Challenges and Prospects of the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme at the ECOWAS Parliament, in Abuja, Nigeria on 23 May 2018

WAMA Director General Momodou B. Saho participates in the Parliamentary Workshop on the Challenges and Prospects of the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme at the ECOWAS Parliament, in Abuja, Nigeria on 23 May 2018. Mr. Saho presented a paper on The Legal and Institutional Framework for the ECOWAS Monetary Union. The paper will shortly be available on the WAMA website in both English and French. The Workshop was organized by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) of the National Assembly of Nigeria, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Parliament, with financial support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF).
The Workshop was attended by distinguished participants, including the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, H. E. Hon Moustapha Cissé LO; Director General of NILDS, Prof. Ladi Hamalai, MFR; Hon. Minister of Regional Integration of Cape Verde, Dr. Júlio César Herbert Duarte Lopes; 2nd Vice Governor, Central Bank of the Republic of Guinee, Hon. Baidy ARIBOT; Representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Grace Akrofi, and MPs, ECOWAS Parliament, MPs of National Parliaments of ECOWAS among others.
In applauding the initiative to sensitise the parliamentarians on monetary integration issues, Mr. Saho made the following statement at the workshop:
“There is also a need for the processes to expand beyond the Community institutions and the Central Banks and Ministries of Finance to include legislatures, the private sector, the general population and non-governmental organisations. Wide public support for monetary union is necessary for its successful implementation and Community institutions and national authorities should take every opportunity to explain to the public what is being done on their behalf and to implement policies that will work for all citizens of ECOWAS. There is still merit in the aspirations of the founding fathers for a more unified ECOWAS. What form that will take will continue to be the subject of debate. However, without closer collaboration, ECOWAS will continue to be a collection of small economies, each with little voice and representation in global affairs.”