In June 2019, despite a senior ECOWAS official describing the situation as 'dismal', ECOWAS agreed to launch a new currency, the eco in January 2020. It will be the CFA franc by another name – pegged against the euro at a rate largely set by France, who will retain the control of convertibility with the euro. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même!

Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa's Last Colonial Curr…, loc. 33