West African Economic and Monetary Union

The West African Economic and Monetary Union, generally referred in English to by its French acronym UEMOA (for Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine) and alternatively as WAEMU,^[1] is an treaty-based arrangement binding together eight West African states within the larger Economic Community of West African States, seven of which were previously colonies of French West Africa.^[2] It was established to promote monetary and financial stability as well as economic integration among countries that share the West African CFA franc (ISO 4217: XOF) as a common currency.^[3] From 1962 to 1994, it was known as the West African Monetary Union (WAMU or, in French, UMOA for Union Monétaire Ouest-Africaine).

Territorially, UEMOA mostly overlaps with another regional organization, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.^[4]

UEMOA common institutions include its Council of Heads of State (French: Conférence des Chefs d'État et de Gouvernement) and Council of Ministers; Commission, Court of Justice, and Court of Accounts (all in Ouagadougou); the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in Dakar; the Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union (CB-UMOA) and Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union (AMF-UMOA), both in Abidjan; and the West African Development Bank (BOAD) in Lomé. UEMOA countries also share the Regional Insurance Control Commission (CRCA, in Libreville) with other African countries of the Franc Zone.