LIBERIA JOINS THE WEST AFRICAN MONETARY ZONE (WAMZ)

On February 16, 2010, the Republic of Liberia acceded to the membership of the West African Monetary Zone, following the signing of the Protocol by the Chairman, Authority of Heads of State and Government of the WAMZ, His Excellency Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, Ag. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Prior to the country’s accession, the WAMZ comprised five countries: The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

Liberia was one of the seven countries (The Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone Liberia) that signed the April 2000 Accra Declaration seeking to establish the Second Monetary Zone in West Africa. However, the country withheld her signature to the December 2000 Bamako Accord that established the West African Monetary Zone and the West African Monetary Institute.

The difficult political and economic conditions that the country faced during the period notwithstanding, she kept faith with the spirit of the Zone by consistently participating at all the meetings of the Zone, albeit on observer status.

The Republic of Liberia is situated on the West Coast of Africa bordering Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The country has an estimated land area of 111,369 square kilometers with a population of about 3.9 million. Liberia is rich in natural resources, notably diamond, gold, iron ore, rubber and timber, with large tracts of arable land. The agricultural sector consists largely of subsistence farming and accounts for 62 percent of GDP, while the major exports include rubber, gold and diamond.

With the accession to full membership of the WAMZ the country is entitled to all the rights and privileges attainable to all the members of the Zone. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has allocated finances for the extension of the ongoing WAMZ Payments System Development Project to Liberia.