Ghana has been selected as the headquarters of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), the interim institution that is to work towards the establishment of a West African Central Bank.

The Central Bank is to be the monetary authority of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), the official name given by the six countries,which have decided to fast-track monetary integration within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, Minister of Planning, Regional Economic Co-operation and Integration, in Accra on Monday. It said the decisions were taken at the end of the third general meeting of the Convergence Council of the second monetary zone, the ministerial body charged with the responsibility of supervising the process leading to the establishment of the zone.

The meeting took place in the Gambian capital of Banjul. Countries in the zone are Ghana, the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Leaders of the six countries signed the Accra Declaration on April 20 this year, which committed them to the establishment of the second monetary zone, a common central bank and a common currency in 2003.

The time-table speaks of a possible merger with the CFA to form a single West African currency in 2004. The statement said since then, a task force comprising representatives of the various central banks, as well as a technical committee, has been working on the technical details.

It said the Banjul meeting approved the various proposals made by these bodies, and in particular, the institutional, administrative and legal framework of the WAMZ. It also approved proposals on the statutes of both the WAMI and the West African Central Bank and a stabilisation and co-operation fund of the WAMZ.

The statement said the meeting decided that the Convergence Council would meet again next month in time for the heads of state to approve the final texts of the documents during the summit of ECOWAS heads of state to be held in Bamako, Mali. This, it said, will enable the WAMI to take off as planned from January next year in Accra.