Buhari cautions UEMOA countries over adoption of eco

President Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) over the adoption of eco as the region’s unified currency.

In December 2019, UEMOA countries  — Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo– agreed to rebrand the CFA Franc as eco.

This meant that they were adopting the name of the common currency agreed on by six English-speaking countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In a statement on Tuesday, Buhari said the adoption process must be done “with caution” to avoid jeopardising the dream of a monetary union in ECOWAS.

“It gives me an uneasy feeling that the UEMOA Zone wishes to take up the eco in replacement for its CFA Franc ahead of other ECOWAS member states,” he said.

“It’s a matter of concern that a people with whom we wish to go into a union are taking major steps without trusting us for discussion.

“Nigeria fully supports and is committed to a monetary union with the right fundamentals — a union which guarantees credibility, sustainability and overall regional prosperity and sovereignty. But we must do things properly and ensure absolute compliance with the set standards.

“We cannot ridicule ourselves by entering a union to disintegrate, potentially no sooner than we enter into it. We need to be clear and unequivocal about our position regarding this process.

“We must also communicate same to the outside world effectively. We have all staked so much in this project to leave things to mere expediencies and convenience.

“We must proceed with caution and comply with the agreed process of reaching our collective goal while treating each other with utmost respect. Without these, our ambitions for a strategic Monetary Union as an ECOWAS bloc could very well be in serious jeopardy.”

In 2019, ECOWAS agreed that eco would be launched in January 2020 with a flexible currency regime.

The English-speaking countries were Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Gambia, who are all English-speaking, as well as Guinea, a francophone country.

They also kicked against the rebranding of CFA Franc as eco.