By Politico Staff Writer
The Technical Committee of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) has at a Virtual Webinar meeting discussed various economic policies and challenges facing member states of the Zone. The two day meeting saw the Chairman of the Committee, Sahr Jusu, who is also Sierra Leone’s Financial Secretary, calling on WAMZ countries to maintain implementation of sound economic policies that would strengthen the resilience of their economies to shocks. He also encouraged recognition of the recommendations made by the West African Monetary Institute on economic management that would safeguard macro-economic stability.
Mr. Jusu made reference to the slowing down of global economic activity in 2018, after a strong growth in 2018, which he linked to a confluence of factors that adversely affected major economies. He however noted that macro-economic performance in the Zone was favourable with the growth rate improving by 2.8 percent in 2019, 0.2 percent higher than the 2018 growth rate.
He attributed the improved growth to sustained implementation of prudent macro-economic policies and increased agricultural output and the recovery in global commodity prices during 2019.
“I am gratified to note that four WAMZ member states recorded robust real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 5.0 percent or higher, one registered slightly above 2.3 percent growth, while one experienced a 1.4 percent contraction in economic activity,” Mr. Jusu pointed out.
He further told the meeting that performance on the macro-economic convergence criteria improved in 2019 and identified Guinea as the country that met all the primary convergence criteria, whilst Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Ghana met three criteria, with Nigeria meeting two and Liberia meeting just one. Liberia was the last country to join the Zone in 2010, ten years after it was formed in 2000.
Briefing other Zone members on Sierra Leone’s economy, he explained that the country’s economy recovered in 2019 from subdued growth in the two preceding years and that ‘’growth recovered to 5.4 percent in 2019 from 3.5 percent in 2018 and was set to average 4.5 percent over the medium term’’.
Mr Jusu cited increased agricultural output, growth of the services sector, and output of other minerals and reactivation of the Marampa Mines as the factors responsible for such a recovery.
Mr. Jusu also made reference to the WAMZ report which projected that only Sierra Leone is likely to meet all the major four convergence criteria by 2023. “While this may sound good, in the spirit of regional integration and the West African brotherhood, we would like to take everyone along, leaving no one behind on the road to a monetary union in West Africa”, he admitted. The meeting also witnessed the re-election of Mr. Jusu as WAMZ Technical Committee chairman.
WAMZ was formed in Accra, Ghana in 2000 in the hope of establishing trade integration and the forming of a single monetary system for member states.
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