Members of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) have postponed the commencement date of the ECOWAS Single Currency from January 2010 to June 2014.
In an 18-point communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city, the WAMZ members said the initial deadline of 31 December, 2009, for the commencement of the single currency and monetary union in the region was not feasible.
According to the communique, the decision has been incorporated into the document, tagged "Decisions Relating to the Extension of the Transition Period for the Establishment of the West African Central Bank and matters connected therewith".
The Abuja Summit, presided over by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, also decided that the launching of the WAMZ Monitory Union should be on or before January 2015.
The Summit also approved a preparatory report of an Action Plan to be implemented by member states over the extended period of 2009 to 2015 to achieve convergence as well as structural and institutional benchmarks under the Banjul Action Plan.
Other decisions taken included the extension of the mandate of West African Monetary Institution (WAMI) from 2010 to 2015, the adoption of a schedule of payments of contributions to the capital of the West Africa Central Bank (WACB) and the stabilization and cooperation fund by member states; the need for WAMI to design a comprehensive strategy for sensitization on the entire WAMZ programme for consideration by the convergence Council.
Addressing participants earlier, President Yar’Adua asked member States to work hard to achieve the convergence criteria by the new target date in order to avoid another postponement.
The members who attended the WAMZ meeting included Presidents Yar’Adua,
John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, the
Vice President of Gambia, Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, and the Guineans
Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Cheick Abdoul Camara.
Others were the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the Chairman and members of the Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors of Central Banks of WAMZ, members of the technical committee of WAMZ and the Director General of WAMI, representatives of UEMOA Commission, African Finance Corporation (AFC) and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
