West African Economic and Monetary Union
| West African Economic and Monetary Union UEMOA |
|
|---|---|
 Organization logo |
|
 States of the UEMOA |
|
| French name | Union économique et monetaire ouest-africaine |
| Organization type | Regional cooperation, monetary union |
| Seat of the organs |
Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso
|
| Chair | Community President Alassane Ouattara President Abdallah Boureima 
|
| Member States | 8 : |
| Official and working languages | |
| surface | 3.51 million km² |
| founding |
January 10, 1994 |
| Currencies | |
| uemoa.int | |
The West African Economic and Monetary Union (French Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine , abbreviated UEMOA ) is an amalgamation of eight mainly francophone (only Guinea-Bissau is Portuguese-speaking ) West African countries. It was founded on January 10, 1994 in Dakar and is based in Ouagadougou . The West African Central Bank (BCEAO) is the monetary authority for the common currency CFA Franc BCEAO in the West African Monetary Union (UMOA).
With the West African Customs Union - Tarif Extérieur Commun (TEC) - a new customs union was founded on January 1st, 2015. It replaces the national legislation and the customs union of the West African economic and monetary community UEMOA.
Members
| member | accession |
|---|---|
 Benin
|
1994 |
|
Burkina Faso
|
1994 |
|
Ivory Coast
|
1994 |
 Mali
|
1994 |
|
Niger
|
1994 |
 Senegal
|
1994 |
 Togo
|
1994 |
 Guinea-Bissau
|
1997 |
organization
The central bank of the UEMOA is the West African Central Bank (BCEAO) based in Dakar ( Senegal ). Other institutions are the Inter-Parliamentary Committee established in 1998 , a court of law and a joint stock exchange in Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ). An integrated regional market has also emerged since 2000, albeit with varying degrees of benefit for the Member States.
The economic integration is still quite weak; the internal market only accounts for around 11% of total foreign trade . Around 60% of the UEMOA's imports and exports are handled with Europe , which is why the dependency is correspondingly high. The economy reacts accordingly sensitively to external shocks, especially on the raw material markets . There are also major differences in economic structures and income levels within the Union , especially between wealthier countries on the coast and those in the Sahel .
The UEMOA countries are also part of the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS). Another currency union is the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).
literature
- Hofmeier, Rolf / Andreas Mehler (eds.): Small Africa Lexicon . Bonn 2005. ( Available from BpBildung .)
- Kohnert, Dirk: The UEMOA and the CFA zone. A new culture of cooperation in Francophone Africa? In: Nabers, Dirk / Ufen Andreas (eds.) (2005): Regional Integration - New Dynamics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Writings of the German Overseas Institute, No. 65, Hamburg, DÜI, 2005: 115-136
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Impulse or obstacle to development? The Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and West Africa , by ANNETTE LOHMANN, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), July 2015