This paper assesses the impact of pegging the CFA franc to the euro - at a fixed parity - on real GDP per capita in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC) countries. Using a set of 35 annual country-level panel data...

This study aims to analyze the long-run effects of fiscal consolidation on economic activity in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), a grouping of six countries (Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Chad) forming a monetary union....

Investment, whatever its nature, is an indispensable channel for increasing economic growth. The aim of this paper is to empirically study the effect of institutional quality and investment on economic growth in WAEMU countries. The methodological approach is based on a dynamic panel model...

This paper analyzes the role of the nature of traded goods in the effect of the real exchange rate on the trade balance in West African Economy and Monetary Union countries. Empirically, the estimation of the parameters of a distributed lag autoregressive model using the technique of dynamic...

The objective of this research is to assess the effect of holding government securities on the credit channel, taking into account the heterogeneity of WAEMU banks' balance sheets. The methodology adopted to achieve this objective is VAR panel modelling, proposed by Abrigo and Love. The...

Our study examines the integration of food markets in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and assesses the role of bilateral trade. In this study, we hypothesize that each country has a market. We adopted the framework borrowed from Ravallion using a dynamic panel model. The...

The CEMAC’s economy lost some momentum in 2023 and the external position deteriorated somewhat, while inflation cooled but remained high. Updated statistics revealed a much more deteriorated fiscal situation than originally estimated. The near-term outlook is one of continued recovery, with...

This paper documents the current state of gender inequalities in the WAEMU by focusing on outcomes (health, education, labor market and financial inclusion) and opportunities (economic rights). The findings show that despite significant progress toward gender equality over the last three...

This paper focuses on the trends in climate change in the WAEMU, assesses the criticality of climate change for the region, and reviews the related policy and financing options going forward. Climate change has been increasingly affecting the lives and livelihoods in the WAEMU. Temperatures have...

The gradual alignment of prudential regulations on Basel II/III standards since 2018, as well as improvements in banking supervision and macroprudential surveillance, have contributed to the WAEMU's banking system's resilience to recent global and regional shocks. However, while cyclical...

This paper discusses recent challenges in BCEAO monetary policy, from a recent spike in inflation, the persistent erosion of external reserves, and strains in the regional financial market. In response to these shocks, the BCEAO operated via both policy rates and liquidity management, including...

Fiscal consolidation and the reintroduction of the WAEMU fiscal framework is crucial for maintaining debt sustainability, external viability, and financial stability. The 3 and 70 percent of GDP deficit and debt ceilings envisaged by the expired rule remain appropriate, while addressing the...

The WAEMU has seen strong growth and rising living standards over the past decade. Economic growth averaged 5.4 percent in 2013-2019 and 5.8 percent in 2021-2023. Policy efforts from regional and national authorities have cushioned the impact of several external and internal shocks, prompting a...

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is a currency and customs union that is made up of the eight low-income countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. Except for Guinea-Bissau, all member countries of the WAEMU have a shared...

The CFA franc devaluation on 11 January 1994 stands out as the most significant reform within the Franc Zone system since political independences of former African French colonies in 1960, yet a topic shrouded into profound taboo. So far, the economic literature has failed to draw any connection...

This study empirically analyzes the impact of prudential regulation on banking efficiency in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). We use panel data from 98 banks between 1998-2019 and employ the System GMM estimator to examine the relationship between prudential measures and...

The study of the effects of exogenous shocks on the creation of added value aimed at showing the impact of those shocks on the gross domestic product as well as the effect of debt and public aid used by some governments as a solution to the effects of exogenous shocks. The study revealed a...

To the question of what lessons can be drawn from the relationship between migrant remittances and economic growth, this article provides an answer based on econometric evidence, using data from a sample of six countries belonging to the CEMAC zone, over the period 1990-2018. Using the PSTR2 and...

In a context where many African populations are excluded from the traditional banking system, financial inclusion appears to be a determining factor in enabling agents in need of financing, notably producers and consumers, to have easy access to financial services in order to contribute to the...

This paper investigates Original Sin in the West African Economic and Monetary Union in the framework of regional integration and cooperation initiatives. The phenomenon describes the inability of countries to borrow in their currency. The central hypothesis is that smaller South-South...

This paper highlights Central African Economic and Monetary Community's (CEMAC) common policies in support of member countries reform programs. CEMAC benefited from favorable hydrocarbon prices in 2022. Economic recovery firmed up and the external position strengthened, with external reserves...

This paper analyzes recent inflation developments in the WAEMU. As in all inflation spikes in the past two decades, food is the main driver of inflation. The contribution from energy prices is also increasing, while inflation contagion effects are still limited to a few sectors. The share of...

This paper aims to provide a broad perspective on the WAEMU fiscal framework. Based on backward looking exercises and forward looking scenarios, it shows that (i) repeated fiscal slippages and historically large stock flow adjustments contributed to the surge in the WAEMU public debt, and (ii)...

This Selected Issues paper explores revamping the West African Economic and Monetary Union's fiscal framework. The new set of fiscal rules should be improved via various supporting arrangements. Those include an escape clause, and broader mechanisms for assessment, accountability, enforcement,...

This paper presents West African Economic and Monetary Union's (WAEMU) report on Common Policies for Member Countries. The WAEMU's post-coronavirus disease 2019 recovery has withstood the new global and regional shocks, partly due to supportive macroeconomic policies and favorable initial...

The analysis of public debt determinants is well documented in the literature. However, previous studies give more focus to the economic determinants neglecting the role played by socio-political factors. The purpose of this study is to fill that gap observed in the literature by investigating...

Purpose - This paper investigates the impact of bank credit on agricultural productivity in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) from 1990 to 2019. Studies' results on the impact of bank credit on agricultural productivity are not conclusive. The studies demonstrate...

We investigate the impact of regional migration on average wages and on wage inequality in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). We exploit unique data from a unified labour force household survey which covers natives and migrants in the seven economic capitals of the region. We...

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of commodity terms of trade (CTOT) shocks on the labour market resilience of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, comparing the franc zone countries on one hand, from the non-franc zone countries on the other hand. The results from the PVAR...

This paper analyzes and characterizes the nature of the interactions between countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 1995–2015. The analysis uses sigma-convergence on the one hand and the Dendrinos-Sonis spatial competition model estimated by the SUR...

This paper assesses the adequacy and effectiveness of the WAEMU fiscal framework along three pillars that have proven to effectively support fiscal discipline in monetary unions—common fiscal rules (including adequacy of numerical ceilings as well as elements of design and enforcement), shared...

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the exploitation of natural resources on the development of CEMAC countries and to examine human capital as a transmission channel.Design/methodology/approach: In order to achieve our goal, we formulate a panel of 6 CEMAC countries...

This paper seeks first to test whether there is evidence of fiscal fatigue in the Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) countries. On the contrary, we want to investigate the impact of fiscal rules on fiscal space to see if the implementation of fiscal rules enhances fiscal...

This article analyses the impact of public debt on sustainability as measured by the genuine savings indicator covering the period from 2004 to 2018. The methodology adopted is based on dynamic panel generalized methods of moments (GMM). The results after estimation show a negative and...

In this article, we have implemented a macroprudential “stress-test” (Top-down) of credit risk at the level of banks in the WAEMU zone. Empirically, we performed a simulation on three macroeconomic scenarios using the Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) model. Our historical scenarios refer to the...

The study analyses the nature of the nexus between budget deficit and economic growth given inflation trends. It focuses on data from the six CEMAC countries for the period 2000 to 2021. The employs unit root tests and the generalized method of moments (GMM) for the empirical evidence. The...

A data envelopment analysis (DEA) has yet to be chosen to assess countries’ financial inclusion levels. We introduce an application of the DEA methodology to compute aggregate performance measures regarding the financial inclusion of economies. We specifically explore composite scores based on...

Since the 2008 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), the financial sector of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) has undergone major changes that have altered its risk profile. Three structural changes have played a key role since the 2008 FSAP: (i) the financial sector...

The limited development of markets in the region represents a key risk factor for financial stability. 1 Since the previous Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in 2008, the bank deposit base has increased from 18 percent to 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the buoyancy of...

This technical note presents the stress tests on credit, interest rate, and concentration risk conducted by the WAEMU FSAP.1 Stress tests on contagion and liquidity risks are addressed separately.2 Stress tests are an important tool for detecting financial sector vulnerabilities, setting up...