One important step forwards towards a single currency was made on 21 December 2019 when Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara – who is also the current president of the UEMOA – and French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to reform the CFA franc, the common currency of the eight UEMOA member countries. Some 134 million people in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo use the CFA franc. Under the reform plan: the CFA franc will be renamed the “Eco”; France will withdraw from all governance bodies; and the Bank of France will no longer hold half of the foreign reserves. However, the Eco will continue to be pegged to the Euro and France will retain, for the time being, its role as its financial guarantor. Read on

In West Africa, Sahel and Mano River countries have lower income inequality than their coastal neighbours, indicating growing social and economic disparities between emerging economies (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria) and less rapidly transforming rural economies. Moreover, many West African countries are faced with a north-south divide. Ghana’s north is much less developed than its rapidly urbanising coastal areas. Read on

Livestock experts from across 17 countries of the ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS area gathered from 7-10 October 2019 in Accra at the 6th high-level meeting on the theme, “Peaceful transhumance and livestock mobility in the Sahel and West African coastal countries.” Civil society organisations approved a joint position statement with key recommendations on how to develop the livestock sector and pastoralism in the context of rising insecurity in the region. Read on

CILSS Executive Secretary Djimé Adoum was a key speaker at an ODI side event at the 74th UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 25 September 2019 in New York. He talked about building resilience in the Sahel. The session highlighted Sahelian perspectives and focused on the role communities could play in building their own resilience to climate change, as well as possible practical steps to support their actions. Read on