Naira depreciation hampers Ecowas’ single currency agenda

The depreciation in the value of  naira and economic challenges facing other members of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have hampered  Ecowas integration and the adoption of a single regional currency.

The out-going Ecowas Macroeconomic Policy Committee Chairperson, Ms Ommy Sar Ndaiye said the member states need to develop strategies to address the prevailing economic challenges facing them.

The Committee which has been toying with the idea of a single met last week in Abuja, Nigeria where the integration and the adoption of a single currency were the focal issues.

Although the commission had made progress in its macroeconomic policies, Ms Ndaiye noted that the depreciation of the naira and a downturn in other states had greatly affected the bloc.

“We all know that whatever happens in Nigeria weighs heavily on our economies.

“If there are challenges there, it would reflect on the region,” she said.

She urged the committee to make recommendations that would strengthen the integration and development and could also be implemented through the policies of member states.

The Ecowas Commissioner, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, Mr Mamadou Traore, said that the 2015 report on the region’s macroeconomic convergence showed a slowdown compared to 2014.

Traore said the lack of raw materials, poor state of infrastructure in member states and the depreciation of the naira contributed to the slow growth rate.

He said that that despite measures by the commission, the Ecowas economy “is still vulnerable to external shocks”.

The member countries, Traore said, should establish the causes of the sub-region’s vulnerability.

“Member states should get an update of implementation of the Ecowas single currency programme.”