6. The Political Economy of a Monetary Union in ECOWAS: The Case of the ECO Currency

The chapter draws on political economy to discuss the currency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to suggest ways of solving the issue of the union’s single currency. The region took a long time in settling on Eco as the name for its currency. ECOWAS initiated in 2000 the idea of a single currency. After elaborate preparation to launch the Eco in 2020, the French-speaking ECOWAS member states appropriated Eco in 2019. Hence, the non-French ECOWAS members strongly disapproved because they regarded the appropriation as a betrayal. The non-French ECOWAS countries are seeking a single currency solution in the region. The chapter utilizes the interest group political approach of Mark Roe, Gourevitch, and Shine to determine channels of the political influence of monetary integration in ECOWAS. The chapter highlights the impact of historical differences between the CFA Franc ECOWAS members and the rest of the ECOWAS. It further re-examines France-Afrique monetary relationship and difficulties restructuring African countries’ relationship. Finally, the chapter analyzes three main options and suggests a viable measure to rebuild trust among French and the other ECOWAS member states towards a single ECOWAS currency.