Central banks of members of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, are meeting to take stock of the progress made so far on a single currency for the region by 2020.

The fifty-third meeting of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks opened yesterday in Dakar, Senegal.

The meeting is being organized by the Central Bank of West African States and the West African Monetary Agency.

Opening the proceedings, Mr Tiemokho Meyliet Kone, the Governor of the Central Bank of West African States, said the meeting comes against the context of a deadline by ECOWAS heads of state and government for the advent of single currency in 2020 and gave precise guidance on key projects.

He commended the progress made by the working group, which consists of the ECOWAS Commission, the Central Bank of West African States, Nigeria and Ghana, which came up with proposals on the framework for monetary policy, the exchange rate regime and the model of the future central bank.

Governor Kone suggested that at their meeting on December eleventh 2018 in Abuja, members of the working group decided, on a consensual basis, to use independent consultants to conduct in-depth studies and make proposals on these three files.

The Dakar meeting will also be an opportunity for Governors of Central Banks in West Africa, to discuss the state of convergence within the zone.