STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ROADMAP ACTIVITIES FOR THE ECOWAS SINGLE CURRENCY ASSIGNED TO WAMA 2011
At the end of its Summit held on 15th June 2007, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government had instructed the ECOWAS Commission to review the current approach geared towards the achievement of monetary integration in the region, and examine the possibility of adopting a new approach for the establishment of the single currency in the ECOWAS sub-region. In implementing this mandate, the ECOWAS Commission had convened a technical meeting in Accra from 25th -27th September 2007, which brought together the regional Institutions involved in the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme (EMCP). Thereafter, a series of technical meetings including that of the Technical Committee of the Convergence Council were held in Ouagadougou from 8th- 9th November 2007, to consider the Report of the Accra meeting. After extensive discussions, the Convergence Council invited the Commission to conduct a detailed study that would map out a new strategy and identify the quickest and most effective ways of establishing the ECOWAS single currency. As part of its contribution to the implementation of this directive, the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), at the 36th Ordinary Meeting of its Committee of Governors held on 21st November 2008, submitted a Strategic Plan outlining the ways and means of achieving, within a reasonable period, the ECOWAS single currency. After its review by the Committee of Governors, this document was submitted to the Convergence Council which, at its ordinary session held in Abuja on 22nd November 2008, endorsed the Committee of Governors’ recommendation to set up an Inter-institutional Task Force mandated to map out a concrete and realistic strategy, taking into account all studies previously carried out on the single currency issue. In implementing this mandate, the ECOWAS Commission organized, from 16th to 18th February 2009 in Abuja, Nigeria, a retreat with regional institutions and Central Banks involved in the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme. This retreat ended with the drafting of a report proposing a new deadline and a Roadmap outlining the various stages of the implementation of the proposed single currency programme. The report of the Inter-institutional Task Force was considered by the Meeting of the Technical Monitoring Committee held from 21st to 22nd May 2009 and approved by the 5th Session of the Convergence Council held in Abuja on 25th May 2009.
Following this approval, it was deemed imperative to regularly monitor and brief the relevant Authorities on the progress made in the implementation of the various activities included in the Roadmap through an annual evaluation report. The evaluation report of the Roadmap for the establishment of the ECOWAS single currency seeks to provide the relevant Authorities with a reference document containing the necessary information relating to the progress made in the implementation of the various stages; constraints and difficulties encountered; solutions or measures that need to be undertaken to address these hurdles and the number of tasks that are yet to be accomplished. It will also help to evaluate the assignments of the various Institutions involved in the implementation of the Roadmap and, where necessary, draw their attention on any inadequacy observed in the execution of their individual and collective assignments. This report highlights the activities that have been completed by WAMA up to end of November 2011.