By RFIPublished on 12/23/2019 Modified on 12/23/2019 at 7:29 p.m.

The CFA franc should be replaced by 2020 by the eco. For the moment, the project concerns eight French-speaking countries in West Africa. The ultimate goal is to extend this currency to the 15 members of the Community of West African States (ECOWAS). But Nigeria, which represents 60 to 75% of the ECOWAS GDP, sees this announcement with great caution.

For Nigeria, the abandonment of the CFA franc is only the first step. " We are detaching from France, the English-speaking countries of the ECOWAS awaited this gesture, " said a diplomatic source. “ On the political level, reluctance persists. Paris remains responsible for the eco, but with what consideration ? “ Wonders for his part the Nigerian analyst Emmanuel Igha.

Abuja, which already manages its own currency, the naïra, conditions the implementation of the eco on budgetary discipline. Nigerian Minister of Finance Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed reiterates this at each meeting: the convergence criteria must be met. Namely a budget deficit that does not exceed 3%, inflation of less than 10% and debt less than 70% of GDP. However, at this stage, only Togo meets these requirements. " It is obvious that we are not all ready," admits a West African official . Abuja has the impression that we want to skip the stages ”.

Nigeria is cautious. Witness the long discussions before joining the continental free trade area; or the closure of its land border since August , to combat smuggling. According to Abdoul Salam Bello, visiting researcher at the Atlantic Council and author of Regionalization in Africa , " Nigeria seeks above all to protect its market, to diversify its economy and to industrialize," notes this specialist. This leads him to be reserved on integration issues ”.

► Read also: CFA franc: when Central Africa in turn thinks of getting out

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