Nigeria, Ghana and four other West African countries have delayed launching a common currency for a further four years to allow more time for member states to reach the necessary economic criteria, a Ghanaian government minister said on Tuesday.
The new currency, the Eco, was due to have been launched by six mainly Anglophone states in July. This is the second time that its inauguration has been delayed.
The currency, to be shared by Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Gambia, was originally due to have come into circulation in 2003.
Ghana's Minister for Regional Cooperation, Kofi Konadu Apraku, announced the latest setback on state radio, saying this year's deadline could not be met as member states of the embryonic West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) had failed to meet the necessary criteria.
The WAMZ was formed in 2000 to try and establish a strong stable currency to rival the CFA franc, which is used by most of the former French colonies in West and Central Africa.
The CFA's exchange rate is pegged to the Euro and is guaranteed by the Bank of France.
The eventual goal is for the CFA franc and Eco to merge, giving all of West and Central Africa a single stable currency.
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