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West
African Monetary Institute (WAMI) Delegation Meets
President Kabbah
A
delegation from the West African Monetary Institute
(WAMI), led by Director General Dr. M.O. Ojo,
has called on President
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's government to maintain the
current momentum towards the July 2005 deadline
set for the establishment of a Second West African
Monetary Zone (WAMZ).
The
Second Monetary Zone (WAMZ) comprising five West
African countries; the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria
and Sierra Leone, was launched at the Bamako summit
in 2000 to set up a common Central Bank and introduce
a common currency. The primary objectives of the
second zone are to ensure price stability, sound
fiscal and monetary conditions, and sustainable
balance of payments for member countries. WAMZ is
also to guide member states in the formulation and
conduct of their economic policies to achieve the
stated objectives. The rationale is to establish
a monetary
union by 2005 to facilitate the eventual monetary
integration with other mainly Francophone West African
States at a later date.
Speaking
at a meeting with the President at the Lodge this
morning, Dr. Ojo observed that Sierra Leone had
made unique and significant progress towards achieving
the single currency objective despite all her
difficulties. However, he cited evidences of ignorance
about the programme in rural areas, stressing
that more resources and activities were required
in the area of sensitising rural communities ahead
of the 2005 deadline.
Further
highlighting Sierra Leone's remarkable progress
achieved, Dr. Ojo observed that if all other WAMZ
members had followed
in the footsteps of their Sierra Leonean counterpart,
the entire process would have been well advanced
by now. He went on to note that the Sierra Leone
government was the first member-country to take
the programme to parliament, setting a good basis
for interfacing with the general citizenry. He
said WAMI has been impressed with the Sierra Leone
model, which he described as a challenge for the
rest of WAMZ member states.
The
Director General stressed the need for all concerned
to work hard towards achieving the convergence
criteria against the stipulated timeframe because,
as he put it, "sceptics and cynics are watching
and waiting to see us fail…we must disappoint
them".
For
his part, President Kabbah re-affirmed his government's
full commitment to the programme, pointing out
that West African leaders concerned could not
afford to abandon the programme halfway. He indicated
his preparedness to participate in next month's
WAMZ summit in Abuja while at the same time rededicating
himself to stepping up public awareness about
the single currency project nationwide. However,
President Kabbah also pointed to the need for
WAMI to pay close attention to the critical issue
of foreign currency fluctuations and how these
could impact on progress towards the single currency
objective during the December summit.
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