The Central Bank of West African States (, BCEAO) is a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

serving the eight

west Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n countries which share the common

West African CFA franc The West African CFA franc ( or simply , ISO 4217 code: XOF; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the currency used by eight independent states in West Africa which make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d' ...

currency and comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union. The BCEAO is active in developing

financial inclusion Financial inclusion is the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to processes by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services—which ...

policy and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.

History

In 1955, the French government transferred the note-issuance privilege for its West African colonies, hitherto held by the

Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale The (BAO, ), known from 1853 to 1901 as Banque du Sénégal and from 1965 to 1990 as the Banque Internationale pour l'Afrique Occidentale (BIAO), was a bank headquartered in Dakar. During most of its history it was the main or only commercial ...

, to a newly created entity based in Paris, the Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française et du Togo. In 1959, the latter's name was changed to BCEAO. The treaty establishing the West African Monetary Union (, UMOA) was signed on and gave BCEAO the exclusive right to issue currency as the common

for the, then, seven member countries:

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

(later renamed

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

), Haute-Volta (later renamed

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, and

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. The statutes of the bank were subsequently approved in November 1962 and remained essentially unchanged until 1974, providing for dominant French influence over the BCEAO's governance. On , Mali left the group and adopted the

Malian franc The Malian franc was the independent currency of Mali between 1962 and 1984. Although technically subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', no subdivisions were issued. History Until 1962, Mali used the West African CFA franc. The Malian franc was intro ...

as national currency. On , Togo officially joined the UMOA. On , Mauritania withdrew and adopted the

ouguiya The ouguiya ( (); sign: UM; code: MRU), at one time spelled "ougiya", is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya constitutes five khoums (meaning "one fifth"). The current ouguiya was introduced in 2018, replacing the old ouguiya at a rate of ...

as national currency. On , Mali re-joined the UMOA. Guinea-Bissau joined the group in 1997. In 1975, the BCEAO was led for the first time by an African Governor, Ivorian Abdoulaye Fadiga. It remained headquartered in Paris until mid-1978, when its head office was relocated to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. The Dakar headquarters was formally inaugurated on . In 1994, the UMOA framework was reformed and rebranded as UEMOA. The BCEAO's statutes were amended in 2010 to grant it greater independence from member states.

Banking Commission

In 1989, BCEAO Governor

Alassane Ouattara Alassane Dramane Ouattara (; ; born 1 January 1942) is an Ivorian politician and economist who has been List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, President of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) since 2010. An economist by profession, he worked for the I ...

promoted the creation of a single banking supervisory authority for the entire West African Monetary Union. The

Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union The Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union (, CB-UMOA) is a supranational bank supervisor established in 1990 and based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is institutionally part of the Central Bank of West African States (French acrony ...

was subsequently established by an international convention signed in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

UMOA-Titres

In 2012, the West African Monetary Union's Council of Ministers authorized the BCEAO to create a regional agency to support the issuance and management of their public securities (). The agency was formally created on under the name UMOA-Titres. Since then, UMOA-Titres has coordinated most of the member states' government debt issuance.

Member states

* * * * * * * *

Buildings

The BCEAO has a main branch, known as agency, in the largest city of each of the member states, whose building typically dominates the local skyline. In Dakar, the BCEAO's headquarters is in a high-rise building separate from the agency for Senegal. In addition, the BCEAO has branches in

Parakou Parakou is the largest city in northern Benin, and the third-largest city in the country, with an estimated population of around 206,667 people, and capital of the Borgou Department. Administratively the commune of Parakou makes up one of Benin ...

(Benin),

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking pop ...

(Burkina Faso),

Abengourou Abengourou is a city in eastern Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both Comoé District and Indénié-Djuablin Region. It is also a commune and the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Abengourou Department. Abengourou is primarily populated by the A ...

Bouaké Bouaké (or Bwake, N'Ko script, N’ko: ߓߐ߰ߞߍ߫ ''Bɔ̀ɔkɛ́'') is the second-largest list of cities in Ivory Coast, city in Ivory Coast, with a population of 740,000 (2021 census). It is the seat of three levels of subdivisions of Ivory ...

Daloa Daloa is a city in western Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both the Sassandra-Marahoué District and the Haut-Sassandra Region. It is also the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Daloa Department. Daloa is also a commune. In the 2014 census, the ci ...

, Korhogo,

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

and San-Pédro (Côte d'Ivoire),

Mopti Mopti (Fulfulde: Mobti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confluence of the ...

and Sikasso (Mali), Maradi and

Zinder Zinder (locally, ''Damagaram''), formerly also spelled Sinder, is the third largest city in Niger, with a population of 235,605 as by the 2012 census. It is situated east of the capital Niamey and north of the Nigerian city of Kano. History ...

(Niger), Kaolack and Ziguinchor (Senegal), and Kara (Togo). In Paris, the BCEAO maintains a representative office in its former headquarters building at 29, rue du Colisée. File:SN-dakar-hafen-02.jpg, BCEAO headquarters tower in

(center) File:BCEAO tower Cotonou, Benin1.jpg, Benin Agency in

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

File:Ouagadougou BCEAO day.JPG, Burkina Faso Agency in

File:Agencia BCEAO em Bissau.jpg, Guinea-Bissau Agency in

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...

File:BrancheBCEAOAbidjanFeb2016.jpg, Ivory Coast Agency in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

File:Bamako bridge crop enh.jpg, Mali Agency in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

(left) File:BCEAO.JPG, Niger Agency in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

File:ZiguinchorBCEAO.jpg, Branch building in Ziguinchor, Senegal

Leadership

Robert Julienne, a French national, was chief executive () of the , then of the BCEAO from 1955 to 1974, after which the bank's head held the title of Governor. * , Governor 1975-1988 *

, Governor 1988-1990 *

Charles Konan Banny Charles Konan Banny (11 November 1942 – 10 September 2021)Biography at BCEAO website

, Governor 1990-2005 * Justin Damo Baro, Governor 2006-2008 * , Governor 2008-2011 * , Governor in 2011 *

Tiémoko Meyliet Koné Tiémoko Meyliet Koné (born 26 April 1949) is an Ivorian economist and politician. He has served as Vice-President of Ivory Coast since April 2022. Early life Koné was born 26 April 1949 in Tafiré located in the Niakaramandougou Departme ...

, Governor 2011-2022 *

Jean-Claude Brou Jean-Claude Kassi Brou (born 1953) is an Ivorian politician and economist who has served as the governor of the Central Bank of West African States since 3 July 2022. He was the president of the Economic Community of West African States Commiss ...

, Governor 2022-

References

External links

*
Official site:
West African Economic and Monetary Union West African Economic and Monetary Union Banks of Benin Banks of Burkina Faso Banks of Ivory Coast Banks of Guinea-Bissau Banks of Mali Banks of Niger Banks of Senegal Banks of Togo Banks established in 1959 French banks of issue {{Africa-bank-stub