Bamako hosts seminar on ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali has welcomed the adoption of the roadmap for the creation of the single currency among member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by the Convergence Council of the group, the Secretary General of the Malian Ministry of Economy and Finance, Sidy Mouhamoud Seck, said.

Seck made Mali's position Wednesday in Bamako at the opening of an awareness seminar on the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation Programme (EMCP), its achievements, challenges and prospects towards the single currency.

The EMCP is planning to launch the ECOWAS Monetary Union in 2020, with the creation of a common central bank and the introduction of a single currency.

"The realization of this monetary integration project is particularly important as the individual African economies and markets, as successful as they are, remain enclaves without real prospects for economic development, "said the Malian official.

Participants in the seminar will treat topics such as the benefits of economic and monetary integration of West Africa, the integration of financial sectors and the role of banks in the monetary integration programme within ECOWAS.

ECOWAS comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
-0- PANA WG/TBM/IBA/CEA/BOS 27April2011