West African Economic and Monetary Union

The West African Economic and Monetary Union, generally referred in English to by its French acronym UEMOA (for Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine) and alternatively as WAEMU, is a treaty-based arrangement binding together eight West African states within the larger Economic Community of West African States, seven of which were previously colonies of French West Africa. It was established to promote monetary and financial stability as well as economic integration among countries that share the West African CFA franc (ISO 4217: XOF) as a common currency. From 1962 to 1994, it was known as the West African Monetary Union (WAMU or, in French, UMOA for Union Monétaire Ouest-Africaine).

Territorially, UEMOA mostly overlaps with another regional organization, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

UEMOA common institutions include its Council of Heads of State (French: Conférence des Chefs d'État et de Gouvernement) and Council of Ministers; Commission, Court of Justice, and Court of Accounts (all in Ouagadougou); the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in Dakar; the Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union (CB-UMOA) and Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union (AMF-UMOA), both in Abidjan; and the West African Development Bank (BOAD) in Lomé. UEMOA countries also share the Regional Insurance Control Commission (CRCA, in Libreville) with other African countries of the Franc Zone.