Ghana says it is determined to join new West African currency

Ghana is determined to “do whatever we can” to join a new West African currency called the Eco, which will replace the France-backed CFA franc as soon as next year in eight regional countries, Ghana’s presidency said.

Ghana’s entry into the currency union would make it the bloc’s largest economy, narrowly ahead of neighbor Ivory Coast. Ghana is not part of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and has its own currency, the Cedi.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this month that West Africa’s monetary union had agreed to cut some financial links with Paris that have underpinned the region’s common currency since its creation after World War Two.