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Mauritania decided on Sunday to withdraw from the 16-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Prime Minister Cheikel Afia Ould Mohamed Khouna announced in Nouakchott.
AFP reported him as telling parliament that the measure had been taken in response to the "latest decisions of the community". AFP said he gave no details but that "observers said plans for an ECOWAS single currency could have caused Nouakchott to abandon the group".
At a summit on 10 December, ECOWAS leaders proposed the creation of a single currency for nations outside the franc zone, with a view to arriving eventually at a common ECOWAS currency.
Under the community's statutes, Mauritania is required to give the ECOWAS secretariat one year's notice in writing of its intention to pull out. If after this period the notification is not withdrawn, Mauritania will no longer be a member. Until then, it has an obligation to comply with the community's treaty.
ECOWAS, founded in 1975, comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
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