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

At the initiative of Germany, UNDP and the Liptako-Gourma Authority, members of the Sahel Alliance gathered on 20-22 November 2019 in Niamey, Niger for a regional workshop on the theme, “Governance and decentralisation: Vectors of peace and stability in the Sahel.” Some 30 participants coming from various administrative levels (local, regional, national) from Sahelian countries as well as international development partners discussed current decentralisation trends, problems and perspectives. Local government representatives from the three countries of the Liptako-Gourma region (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) issued a communiqué in which they urged members and partners of the Sahel Alliance to stronger involve them. Read on

The UEMOA Commission and the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) signed, on 8 November 2019 in Abidjan, a new co-operation agreement worth nearly EUR 1 million to complete phase 1 of the programme for local cross-border co-operation (PCTL). In addition, UEMOA Commission President Abdallah Boureima signed a new co-operation agreement with the R20 Green Fund for Women to better integrate the climate aspect within projects conducted by local actors. Read on

The African Governance Report, produced by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, is a rich source of information on the continent’s governance challenges. It analyses the progress that has been made in the implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Both agendas have overlapping goals, and the report analyses, sector by sector, Africa’s readiness for both agendas. Read on