It was on June 4 that all the member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) meeting in Accra, Ghana, appointed the Ivorian Jean-Claude Brou as the new governor of the Central Bank of of West Africa (BCEAO). The latter will take over the reins of the financial institution on July 4, 2022.
It was during the extraordinary WAEMU summit that the eight countries sharing in common the CFA franc currency decided to appoint Jean-Claude Brou governor of the BCEAO. The latter previously held the position of President of the ECOWAS Commission. He replaces another Ivorian, Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, promoted to vice-president of Cote d’Ivoire. The latter was at the head of the West African financial body for more than 10 years.
WAEMU leaders did not fail to congratulate the now ex-governor of the Bank for all the reforms made. In particular the reform of the CFA franc. They did not fail to appreciate his dedication to the recovery of the economies of the Union, through the establishment of recovery bonds to block the way to the devastating financial effects of the Covid crisis. The countries of the union achieved during the years preceding the covid, strong increases in their GDP. For example, in 2016, growth reached 7%, the highest increase in all of Africa.
A WAEMU official said that: “If the heads of state have chosen him, in particular Ouattara, it is because he (Brou) will embody the continuity of the work undertaken by Governor Koné”. The new governor, for his part, is committed to working for the good performance of the currency and above all to being a governor at the service of the growth of the economies of the Union, after having thanked the Heads of State for his appointment.
Former Ivorian Minister of Industry and Mines, Jean-Claude Brou was appointed President of the ECOWAS Commission in December 2017. The Ivorian’s four and a half years in office were marked in particular by the management of several political crises with the resurgence of coups in Mali, Burkina and Guinea. It should however be noted that the mandate of the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission was also marked by the establishment of the regional electricity market, that of a single visa or the progress of the gigantic highway project between Lagos and Abidjan, for which investors recently pledged nearly 15 billion dollars (13.99 billion euros).
