The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is abandoning its plans for a single currency, known as the ECO, due to political challenges.
The initiative, first proposed in the late 1990s, aimed to simplify transactions and promote economic growth across the 15 member states.
However, Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Junior, a member of the ECOWAS parliament, says the plan has hit a roadblock.
He cited political instability and the complexity of integrating the French CFA currency, which is pegged to the French franc, as major hurdles.
Instead, ECOWAS is now proposing two separate currencies – one for Anglophone countries and another for Francophone countries.
However, the plan is on hold until the region’s security situation is resolved.
