Established 1959 Founded 12 May 1962 | Website www.bceao.int Headquarters Dakar | |
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President Governor Kone Tiemoko Meyliet Central bank of West African Economic and Monetary Union Currency West African CFA franc
XOF (ISO 4217) | ||
The Central Bank of West African States (French: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, BCEAO) is a central bank serving the eight west African countries which share the common West African CFA franc currency and comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA):
The Bank is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.
History
Its predecessor, the Institut d’Emission de l’Afrique Occidentale Française et du Togo, was created in 1955 and was transformed into BCEAO in 1959. The treaty establishing the West African Monetary Union (UMOA), signed on May 12, 1962, gave BCEAO the exclusive right to issue the currency as the common central bank for the then seven member countries: