Strengthening the West African Economic and Monetary Union
Strengthening the West African Economic and Monetary Union

Author: Olivier Basdevant

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-10-23

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13: 1513567330

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West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries face a well-known dilemma between the need to provide shock-smoothing mechanisms and the lack of adequate mechanisms to do so. WAEMU countries are subject to frequent and, to a large extent, asymmetric shocks. They have remained poorly diversified and vulnerable to external shocks, such as changing weather conditions. In addition to limited shock-smoothing mechanisms at the regional level, WAEMU members’ ability to respond to shocks through national policies is also constrained by limited fiscal space and the need to preserve external stability—not only at the national level but also at the union level. In this context, developing a well-defined fiscal rule framework at the national level would help to build the necessary fiscal space for shock-smoothing. In addition, the development of specific shock-smoothing mechanisms—including a more developed and integrated financial sector—would also be critical. In addition, promoting financial development is also a challenge, which needs to be addressed in tandem with an adequate surveillance system. Some of these challenges have been faced by other monetary unions, such as the euro area.

West African Economic and Monetary Union
West African Economic and Monetary Union

Author: Patrick A. Imam

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2013-10-22

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 1484348222

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The financial system in the WAEMU remains largely bank-based. The banking sector comprises 106 banks and 13 financial institutions, which together hold more than 90 percent of the financial system’s assets (about 54 percent of GDP at end-2011). Five banks account for 50 percent of banking assets. The ownership structure of the sector is changing fast, with the rapid rise of foreign-owned (pan-African) banks. This contributes to higher competition but also rising heterogeneity in the banking system, with large and profitable cross-country groups competing with often weaker country-based (and sometime government-owned) banks. Nonbank financial institutions are developing quickly, notably insurance companies, but remain overall small. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the banking system.

Regional Integration in West Africa
Regional Integration in West Africa

Author: Eswar Prasad

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 0815738544

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" Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "

West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Author: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY. FUND

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781484312803

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This paper presents stylized facts on the quantitative and qualitative infrastructure gap in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), estimates the efficiency of public investment, and recommends how to improve it. The WAEMU countries face an important common challenge of creating sufficient fiscal space to finance ambitious growth, development, and poverty-reduction programs in individual countries. This paper also provides comparative evidence of the situation of WAEMU in several areas of financial development relative to groups of benchmark countries. The state of inclusion in.

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism
The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism

Author: Tanja A. Börzel

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 705

ISBN-13: 0199682305

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The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism - the first of its kind - offers a systematic and wide-ranging survey of the scholarship on regionalism, regionalization, and regional governance. Unpacking the major debates, leading authors of the field synthesize the state of the art, provide a guide to the comparative study of regionalism, and identify future avenues of research. Twenty-seven chapters review the theoretical and empirical scholarship with regard to the emergence of regionalism, the institutional design of regional organizations and issue-specific governance, as well as the effects of regionalism and its relationship with processes of regionalization. The authors explore theories of cooperation, integration, and diffusion explaining the rise and the different forms of regionalism. The handbook also discusses the state of the art on the world regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Various chapters survey the literature on regional governance in major issue areas such as security and peace, trade and finance, environment, migration, social and gender policies, as well as democracy and human rights. Finally, the handbook engages in cross-regional comparisons with regard to institutional design, dispute settlement, identities and communities, legitimacy and democracy, as well as inter- and transregionalism.

Financing Growth in the WAEMU Through the Regional Securities Market
Financing Growth in the WAEMU Through the Regional Securities Market

Author: Mame Astou Diouf

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2012-10-18

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 1475548206

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The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) regional securities market saw increasing activity in the last decade, but still fell short of supplying sufficient long-term financing for growth-enhancing public and private investment projects. In addition to providing an institutional background, this paper studies recent developments and the determinants of interest rates on the market—using yield curve and principal component analyses. It also identifies challenges and prospective reforms that could help the region reap the full benefits of a more dynamic securities market and assesses the potential systemic risk the market may pose for the region’s banking system.

Wealth through Integration
Wealth through Integration

Author: Elias T. Ayuk

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-10-22

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 9781461448891

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Could regional integration be a first step toward joining the global market? In a context where liberalizing trade has not produced the expected gains in developing countries and growth in global trade has not led to the expected economic growth, an alternative solution has emerged. This new paradigm suggests that trade liberalization should be accompanied by public investment. However, by its very nature, trade liberalization leads to a reduction in revenues from duties and taxes, which means that the available resources for public investments will also be reduced. There are now solid arguments for encouraging the less-developed countries to first emphasize regional integration before trying to access the global market. This book explores the issues linked to regional integration in West Africa and presents empirical data about the experiences in = West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries to converge their economies. It also examines how these efforts, which make a major contribution to regional integration, influence poverty reduction in the economic and monetary community. It will be of interest to researchers working in this area. Elias T. Ayuk is Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa in Accra, Ghana, and was formerly a senior program specialist at the International Development Research Centre. Samuel T. Kaboré is a researcher/lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Ouagadougou II, Burkina Faso. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most. Elias T. Ayuk is Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa in Accra, Ghana, and was formerly a senior program specialist at the International Development Research Centre. Samuel T. Kaboré is a researcher/lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Ouagadougou II, Burkina Faso. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.

The Monetary Geography of Africa
The Monetary Geography of Africa

Author: Paul R. Masson

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004-11-30

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780815797531

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Africa is working toward the goal of creating a common currency that would serve as a symbol of African unity. The advantages of a common currency include lower transaction costs, increased stability, and greater insulation of central banks from pressures to provide monetary financing. Disadvantages relate to asymmetries among countries, especially in their terms of trade and in the degree of fiscal discipline. More disciplined countries will not want to form a union with countries whose excessive spending puts upward pressure on the central bank's monetary expansion. In T he Monetary Geography of Africa, Paul Masson and Catherine Pattillo review the history of monetary arrangements on the continent and analyze the current situation and prospects for further integration. They apply lessons from both experience and theory that lead to a number of conclusions. To begin with, West Africa faces a major problem because Nigeria has both asymmetric terms of trade—it is a large oil exporter while its potential partners are oil importers—and most important, large fiscal imbalances. Secondly, a monetary union among all eastern or southern African countries seems infeasible at this stage, since a number of countries suffer from the effects of civil conflicts and drought and are far from achieving the macroeconomic stability of South Africa. Lastly, the plan by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to create a common currency seems to be generally compatible with other initiatives that could contribute to greater regional solidarity. However, economic gains would likely favor Kenya, which, unlike the other two countries, has substantial exports to its neighbors, and this may constrain the political will needed to proceed. A more promising strategy for monetary integration would be to build on existing monetary unions—the CFA franc zone in western and central Africa and the Common Monetary Area in southern Africa. Masson and Pattillo argue that the goal of a creating a s

The Struggle for Land and Justice in Kenya
The Struggle for Land and Justice in Kenya

Author: Ambreena Manji

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1847012558

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Finalist for the African Studies Association's 2021 Best Book Prize. Explores the limits of law in changing unequal land relations in Kenya.

The Global Findex Database 2017
The Global Findex Database 2017

Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-04-19

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1464812683

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In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.