The fifth ( 5th ) meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Single Currency Programme took place on Wednesday, 21st February, 2018 in Ghana at the Accra International Conference Center (AICC). In attendance were the President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, the President of Niger, H.E Mahamadou Issoufou , the President of Ivory Coast, H.E. Alassane Ouattara and the President of Togo, H.E Faure Gnassingbe. Other dignitaries who attended were the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Ministers of state of ECOWAS countries, members of the Diplomatic Corps and top government officials .
The meeting was to reaffirm the commitment of the member states to meet the ECOWAS single currency Programme by the year 2020. A communique issued at the end of the event affirmed a gradual approach to achieving the objective of the single currency programme within the sub-region.
The President of Ghana , and the Chairman of the meeting, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo -Addo in his remarks underscored the need for the ECOWAS single currency which would, amongst other things, remove trade barriers and raise the standard of living for the people in the sub-region. He urged countries within the sub-region to make conscious efforts towards industrialization and value addition to raw materials, in order to take advantage of the economic prospects that a single currency regime would present.
