A virtual Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) kicked off on Tuesday with President Muhammadu Buhari participating.
The session is linked from the Executive Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Also in attendance in the WAMZ virtual session are ministers and senior aides, among whom were the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama.
Others were the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Zubairu Dada; Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele; Special Adviser to the President of Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; and the Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Idris Umar.
In 2000, five Western African Countries (the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) established the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
The West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) is a monetary and customs union with a common currency, the CFA Franc.
Nigeria and five other West African countries had in January rejected the use of ‘Eco’ as the region’s single currency.
The move to have a regional currency began 30 years ago but has been experiencing a delay due to the failure of the countries to reach a consensus.
