ECOWAS, Adopts ECO as a Name of Planned Shared Currency
By Abdul Rahman Suagibu –
NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS, Freetown, Sierra Leone- The Economic Community for West African Sate (ECOWAS) has adopted a single currency named ‘ECO’ which it plans to launch in January 2020.
Eco was approved on Saturday 29th June, 2019 in Abuja in a meeting of the fifteen member countries organizations. Discussed for thirty years, this single currency between the fifteen countries that make up the ECOWAS – eight of which use the CFA franc, fastened to the euro according to a fixed parity guaranteed by France former colonial master of the region is seen as a gamble risked by many analysts, but would be a strong political symbol.
According to media reports, there was “a real firm political will” for the region to hastily achieve the single currency.
During the meeting in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari handed over chairmanship of the organization to the President of Niger Republic- Mahamadou Issoufou during the closing ceremony of the 55th Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held at the State House Conference Center in Abuja.
The ECOWAS Prize for excellence was awarded to former UN Secretary General Koffi Anna and Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh (Renowned for her contributions towards curbing the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria by placing the patient zero- Patrick Sawyer in quarantine.
For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Suagibu Reports, Africa Correspondent
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