Economy

ECO Crisis: Nigeria, Other Countries Demand ECOWAS Meeting

Published

4 years ago

January 17, 2020

Eric

Nigeria and six other members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday demanded a crucial extraordinary meeting to discuss the controversial renaming of the CFA Franc as ECO by eight of their counterparts.

The demand was contained in a communique issued at the end of a meeting by the countries, namely Nigeria, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

On December 21, 2019, the eight French-speaking West African countries announced their decision to dump the French CFA Franc for the ECO single currency scheduled to take off this year.

ECO is the name adopted for the common currency of the ECOWAS by the Authority of the Community’s Heads of State and Government at their 55th Ordinary Session in Abuja.

The announcement was made by the Ivorien President, Alassane Ouattara, on behalf of the eight countries, namely Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo Republic.

The adoption of the common currency, expected to be issued in June 2020, is part of efforts by ECOWAS to realise its over 30 years’ aspiration to establish a single currency among its members and ensure regional economic integration in the region.

Ghana had applauded the decision of its Francophone counterparts to break from the shackles of the French colonialism to team up with their ECOWAS colleagues.

Many analysts described the French President, Emmanuel Macron’s role in the eight former colonial territories as an attempt to hijack the ECO single currency project.

But, at the end of the extra-ordinary meeting, the Ministers of Finance and the Governors of the Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone ((WAMZ) on the ECOWAS single currency programme condemned the eight countries for taking a unilateral decision over the issue.

The meeting held at the CBN headquarters in Abuja under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Guinea, Mamadi Camara. The six countries frowned at the conduct of their counterparts.

In the communique issued at the end of the meeting, the finance ministers and Central Bank governors of the six countries said they noted the declaration by the Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) on December 21, 2019.

The representatives of the affected countries described the “unilateral renaming of the CFA Franc as ECO by 2020 as inconsistent with the decision of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS for the adoption of the ECO as the name of an independent ECOWAS single currency.”

“WAMZ Convergence Council would be recommending an extraordinary summit of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the WAMZ member states will be convened soon to discuss this matter and other related issues,” the communique read.

The English version of the communique was read by the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Zainab Ahmed, while the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Guinea, Mamadi Camara, read the French version.

Other representatives present at the meeting include the Minister of finance and Economic Affairs of the Republic of Gambia, Mambury Njie; Minister of Finance of Ghana, Ofori Atta; Minister of Finance and Development Planning of Republic of Liberai, Samuel Tweah and Minister of Finance of Sierra Leone, Jacob Saffa.

Also, present were Senior Adviser, Central Bank of Gambia, Buah Saidy; Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ernest Addison; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

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Economy

Naira Makes More Recovery, Sells at N1,453/$1

Published

1 month ago

March 22, 2024

Eric

The Naira continued its appreciation at the official market on Thursday, March 21, 2024 to close at N1,453.28/$1, according to data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

This represents an appreciation of N39.33 when compared to the N1,492.61/$1 it closed on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

The intraday high was N1,598/$1, while the intraday low was N1,300/$1, representing a wide spread of N298/$1.

Similarly, the Naira appreciated against the dollar at the parallel window to trade at N1,500/$1, this represents an appreciation of N20.00 as against the N1,520 /$1 it traded the previous day.

The Naira also appreciated slightly against the British Pound to trade at N2,000/£1 as against the previous trading day’s price of N2,020/£1 representing a gain of N20 for the local currency.

The Canadian dollar, however, closed flat against the naira to trade at N1,270/CA$1 same as the N1,270/CA$1 it traded the previous day representing a decline of N20 in the local currency.

The Naira gained N30 against the Euro to trade at N1,670/€1 as against the previous closing price of N1,700/€1.

Economy

Naira Gains Against Dollar, Trades at N1,603/$1

Published

1 month ago

March 13, 2024

Eric

The Naira, Tuesday continued its recovery against the American dollar as it traded at N1,603.38/$1, data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window has shown.

This represents a gain of N15.48 when compared to the N1,617.96/$1 it closed on, on Monday, March 11, 2024.

The intraday high was N1,637/$1, while the intraday low was N1,425.35/$1, representing a lean spread of N211.65/$1.

Meanwhile, the Naira gained N12 against the dollar at the parallel market as the local currency appreciated to N1,603/$1 as against the N1,615 /$1 it traded the previous day. As it stands, the naira is trading at the same rate at both official and parallel windows.

The Naira, however, slumped against the British Pound to trade at N2,050/£1 as against the previous trading day’s price of N2,030/£1 representing a loss of N20 for the local currency.

After about two weeks of closing flat against the Canadian dollar, the naira slumped massively to trade at N1,300/CA$1 on Tuesday, representing a decline of N150 when compared to the N1,150/CA$1 it traded the previous day.

The Naira lost N35 against the Euro to trade at N1,740/€1 as against the previous closing price of N1,705/€1 representing a loss of N35 for the local currency.

Economy

Binance to Close Shop in Nigeria, Stops Transaction, Trading in Naira

Published

2 months ago

March 5, 2024

Eric

By Reuters – Binance will stop all transactions and trading in Nigeria’s local currency after March 8 amid a country-wide crackdown on crypto exchanges that have been blamed by authorities for feeding a black market for foreign exchange.

It will stop supporting withdrawals after Friday and any remaining balances in Nigerian Naira will be automatically converted into Tether – a stablecoin whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Last week, Nigerian authorities detained two Binance senior executives on undisclosed charges as part of the crackdown.

They were still in custody, their local lawyer said before a parliamentary committee on Monday.

Source: Reuters