Côte d’Ivoire Foreign Affairs: Regional Integration of Côte d’Ivoire (UEMOA & ECOWAS)
The integration of Côte d’Ivoire happens through 2 groups. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), comprises 8 countries – including Côte d’Ivoire – and was created in 1962.
Daniel Kablan Duncan, minister of foreign affairs, talks about the regional integration.
The integration of Côte d’Ivoire happens through 2 groups. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA ), comprises 8 countries – including Côte d’Ivoire – and was created in 1962. These countries possessed a common currency before euro even existed. The union has a common external tariff. The UEMOA groups approximately 75 million inhabitants.
Second group is ECOWAS, a market of 205 consumers that includes other countries (Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria). This group is less integrated and advanced as the UEMOA in terms of policy. But there is a clear will and ambition of the states to go ahead with the integration. If the ECOWAS region was one state, it would be the 5th largest power in the world.