IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v28y2005i3p349-373.html

On the Adequacy of Monetary Arrangements in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Agnès Bénassy‐Quéré
  • Maylis Coupet

Abstract

We examine the economic rationale for monetary union(s) in Sub‐Saharan Africa through the use of cluster analysis on a sample of 17 countries. The variables used stem from the theory of optimum currency areas and from the fear‐of‐floating literature. It is found that the existing CFA franc zone cannot be viewed as an optimum currency area: CEMAC and UEMOA countries do not belong to the same clusters, and a ‘core’ of the UEMOA can be defined on economic grounds. The results support the inclusion of the Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone in an extended UEMOA arrangement, or the creation of a separate monetary union with the ‘core’ of the UEMOA and the Gambia, rather than the creation of a monetary union around Nigeria. Finally, the creation of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) around Nigeria is not supported by the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnès Bénassy‐Quéré & Maylis Coupet, 2005. "On the Adequacy of Monetary Arrangements in Sub‐Saharan Africa," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 349-373, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:28:y:2005:i:3:p:349-373
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2005.00649.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2005.00649.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2005.00649.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Masson & Catherine Pattillo, 2002. "Monetary Union in West Africa: An Agency of Restraint for Fiscal Policies?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 11(3), pages 387-412, September.
    2. repec:imf:imfops:2001/003 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Cobham, David & Robson, Peter, 1994. "Monetary integration in Africa: A deliberately European perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 285-299, March.
    4. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Rodrik, Dani, 1991. "Do the benefits of fixed exchange rates outweigh their costs? The Franc Zone in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 777, The World Bank.
    5. Bayoumi, Tamim & Ostry, Jonathan D, 1997. "Macroeconomic Shocks and Trade Flows within Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Optimum Currency Arrangements," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 6(3), pages 412-444, October.
    6. Honohan, Patrick & Lane, Philip R., "undated". "Will the Euro Trigger More Monetary Unions in Africa?," WIDER Working Papers 295503, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "No Single Currency Regime is Right for All Countries or At All Times," NBER Working Papers 7338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Patrick Guillaumont & Sylviane Guillaumont, 1989. "The Implications of European Monetary Union for African Countries," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 139-153, December.
    9. Seraphin Fouda & David Stasavage, 2000. "The CFA Franc Zone After EMU: Status Quo, Reform, or Dissolution?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 221-233, February.
    10. Mr. Michel Galy & Mr. Michael T. Hadjimichael, 1997. "The CFA Franc Zone and the EMU," IMF Working Papers 1997/156, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Artis, Michael & Zhang, Wenda, 1997. "On Identifying the Core of EMU: An Exploration of Some Empirical Criteria," CEPR Discussion Papers 1689, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    12. Guillermo A. Calvo & Carmen M. Reinhart, 2002. "Fear of Floating," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(2), pages 379-408.
    13. Xavier Debrun & Paul Masson & Catherine Pattillo, 2005. "Monetary union in West Africa: who might gain, who might lose, and why?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 454-481, May.
    14. Elbadawi, Ibrahim & Majd, Nader, 1996. "Adjustment and economic performance under a fixed exchange rate: A comparative analysis of the CFA zone," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 939-951, May.
    15. Hanink, Dean M & Owusu, J Henry, 1998. "Has ECOWAS Promoted Trade among Its Members?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 7(3), pages 363-383, October.
    16. repec:imf:imfops:2000/011 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Paul De Grauwe & Wim Vanhaverbeke, 2014. "Is Europe an Optimum Currency Area? Evidence from Regional Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Exchange Rates and Global Financial Policies, chapter 8, pages 231-252, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Mr. Patrick Honohan & Mr. Stephen A. O'Connell, 1997. "Contrasting Monetary Regimes in Africa," IMF Working Papers 1997/064, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mahvash S Qureshi & Mr. Charalambos G Tsangarides, 2006. "What is Fuzzy About Clustering in West Africa?," IMF Working Papers 2006/090, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Magazzino, Cosimo, 2012. "Revenue and expenditure nexus: A case study of ECOWAS," Economics Discussion Papers 2012-57, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    3. Zhao, Xiaodan & Kim, Yoonbai, 2009. "Is the CFA Franc Zone an Optimum Currency Area?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1877-1886, December.
    4. Qureshi, Mahvash Saeed & Tsangarides, Charalambos G., 2012. "Hard or Soft Pegs? Choice of Exchange Rate Regime and Trade in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 667-680.
    5. Carsten Hefeker, 2010. "Fiscal reform and monetary union in West Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 86-102.
    6. Tsangarides, Charalambos G. & Qureshi, Mahvash Saeed, 2008. "Monetary Union Membership in West Africa: A Cluster Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1261-1279, July.
    7. Chantal Dupasquier & Patrick N. Osakwe & Shandre M. Thangavelu, 2005. "Choice of Monetary and Exchange Regimes in ECOWAS : An Optimum Currency Area Analysis," Macroeconomics Working Papers 22570, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    8. Chantal Dupasquier & Patrick N. Osakwe & Shandre M. Thangavelu, 2005. "Choice of Monetary and Exchange Regimes in ECOWAS: An Optimum Currency Area Analysis," SCAPE Policy Research Working Paper Series 0510, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics, SCAPE.
    9. Léonce Ndikumana, 2003. "Capital Flows, Capital Account Regimes, and Foreign Exchange Rate Regimes in Africa," Working Papers wp55, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    10. Tamgac, Unay, 2013. "Duration of fixed exchange rate regimes in emerging economies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 439-467.
    11. Lamberte, Mario B. & Milo, Melanie S. & Pontines, Victor, 2001. "NO to ¥E$? Enhancing Economic Integration in East Asia through Closer Monetary Cooperation," Discussion Papers DP 2001-16, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    12. E D Balogun, 2010. "Alternative reconsideration of output growth differential for West African Monetary Zone," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Proceedings of the SARB/IFC seminar on "Economic and financial convergence en route to regional economic integration: experience, prospects and statis, volume 32, pages 106-120, Bank for International Settlements.
    13. Mr. Tamon Asonuma & Mr. Xavier Debrun & Mr. Paul R Masson, 2012. "Welfare Effects of Monetary Integration: The Common Monetary Area and Beyond," IMF Working Papers 2012/136, International Monetary Fund.
    14. Couharde, Cécile & Coulibaly, Issiaka & Guerreiro, David & Mignon, Valérie, 2013. "Revisiting the theory of optimum currency areas: Is the CFA franc zone sustainable?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 428-441.
    15. Honohan, Patrick & Lane, Philip R., "undated". "Will the Euro Trigger More Monetary Unions in Africa?," WIDER Working Papers 295503, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Buigut, Steven & Valev, Neven T., 2009. "Benefits from Mutual Restraint in a Multilateral Monetary Union," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 585-594, March.
    17. Masahiro Kawai & Shinji Takagi, 2005. "Towards regional monetary cooperation in East Asia: lessons from other parts of the world," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 97-116.
    18. Balogun, Emmanuel Dele, 2008. "An alternative reconsideration of macroeconomic convergence criteria for West African Monetary Zone," MPRA Paper 11367, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Dominique Guillaume and David Stasavage, 1999. "Making and breaking monetary policy rules: the experience of African countries," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/1999-02, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    20. Xavier Debrun & Paul R. Masson, 2013. "Modelling Monetary Union in Southern Africa: Welfare Evaluation for the CMA and SADC," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(2), pages 275-291, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:28:y:2005:i:3:p:349-373. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.