The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is poised to reach a significant milestone. The renewal of the Convergence Pact, the return of Mali, and a comprehensive overhaul of statutes point to a new era of integration and economic stability in the Union.

Introduced in 2015 by the WAEMU States, the Convergence Pact was suspended in April 2020 to provide greater flexibility in managing the Covid-19 health crisis. However, Mohamed Bazoum, the President of Niger relaunched the pact on July 8, in Bissau. This was during an extraordinary session of the Union’s Conference of Heads of State and Government, which Bazoum chaired over.

During the meeting, the leader urged his counterparts to seriously delve into the matter. “Given the current challenges, and having overcome this difficult period, wouldn't it be wise to encourage the establishment of a new Pact of convergence, stability, growth, and solidarity between WAEMU member states?” Bazoum asked. 

Back in June, in his inaugural speech as the new president of the Conference of Heads of State and Governments of the WAEMU, Bazoum emphasized the importance of relaunching the Pact for fostering stability, growth, and solidarity in the WAEMU.

During the recent meeting, in Bissau, member States mandated "the WAEMU Commission to submit a new convergence, growth, and stability pact for 2023." This is as inflation stood at 4.4% in 2023, thus 3.0 points less than in 2022. Meanwhile, the previous convergence criteria required that inflation remains below 3%. 

Contrasting with the improvement on the inflation side, the budget balance criterion still has a long way to go. In Côte d'Ivoire, which is the WAEMU’s economic powerhouse, the budget deficit widened to 6.8% of GDP in 2022 (compared to 4.9% in 2021), far from the required 3% before the pact's suspension in 2020. Last year, none of the WAEMU countries had a budget deficit below 5%, according to data compiled by Ecofin Agency.

Fortunately, things look better on the economic growth side. Indeed, the Union's economy is expected to grow by 7% in 2023, compared to 5.9% in 2022.

Besides the pact’s renewal, significant changes announced during the Conference of Heads of State and Governments include Mali’s reinstatement and a statute overhaul. 

Mali, it should be recalled, was suspended from the Union in January 2022 in response to Col. Assimi Goïta’s coup.

Regarding the statute overhaul, the Union, according to President Bazoum, plans to carry it out next October.

Bazoum explained that during the recent summit, Benin's President, Patrice Talon, "opposed a minor reform, which is why we decided to overhaul the statutes and consider reforms within a Union that will truly have harmonized texts".

Before Bazoum, Talon was occupying the seat of WAEMU President. However, before taking over, Talon set a condition: the country holding the Presidency of the Council of Ministers should coincide with the country holding the Presidency of the Conference of Heads of State and Government. His request is yet to be granted.

Fiacre E. Kakpo