I HISTORY
UMOA A the UEMOA , A SO LONG WALK
The African Western Union Economic and Monetary
(UEMOA) was born on ashes from the African Western Monetary Union (UMOA)
created in 1962 at the same time as the Central Bank from the States from West
Africa (BCEAO).
The Union was created by the Treaty signed in Dakar on January
10, 1994 by the Heads of State and of
Government of the seven countries of West Africa having jointly
the use of a common currency, F CFA.
It is of Benign, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, of Mali, of
Niger, of Senegal and Togo.
The Treaty came into effect on August 1, 1994, after its
ratification by the Member States.
May 02, 1997, the Guinea-Bissau became the 8th Member State of
the Union.
The UEMOA is represented by a logo symbolizing the growth, the
union, solidarity and the complementarity between the Coastal states and the
States sahéliens.
The logo represents two dynamic and elliptic forms which in
spite of their specificities, intermingle to express two strong concepts,
the solidarity and the complementarity of the States and the people of the
Union.
This solidarity and this complementarity are ready to be released
in a movement from rise continue which will lead to economic blooming,
social and cultural of our populations respective.
The energy of the lianas of the forest is harmonized with the hot
and long-lived vibrations of the Sahel for to produce the sphere of
happiness illustrating the characteristics and the objectives of the UEMOA.
Natural resources and the material equipment (1/2 blue lower
sphere), even spiritual intellectual resources (1/2 gold sphere)
Lastly, the
white circle expresses the peace, the serenity and the stability which must
remain the points of anchoring of the process of integration of the UEMOA.
II FONCTIONNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE UEMOA
The operation of the UEMOA is articulated around the Presidency
of the Commission and directed Departments, each one, by a Police chief, named
by his country of origin.
The bodies of direction, advisory, of jurisdictional control,
parliamentary control and the autonomous Specialized agencies also take part in
the institutional system.
The whole of the Institution functions under the authority of the
President of the Commission.
This one takes care that constantly, the Commission exerts, with
the wanted effectiveness, the plenitude of its functions, with the prerogatives
and responsibilities which the Treaty of the UEMOA confers to him.
II.1 INSTITUTIONS
II.1.1 them bodies of direction
II.1.1-1 It Conference of the Heads of State and
Government
It is the supreme authority of the Union and section any question
not having been able to find solution by unanimous agreement of the Council of
Ministers. It decides possible adhesion of new members and takes note of the
withdrawal or the exclusion of the participants. It meets at least once per
annum and makes its decisions unanimously.
II.1.1-2 it the Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers lays down the monetary policy and
of credit of the Union in order to ensure the safeguard of the common currency
and to provide for the financing with the activity and the economic development
with the Member States. Each one of them is represented by two ministers, of
which the Minister for Finance, but each State lays out to with it only with
one voice. The BCEAO organizes the meetings of the Council of which it ensures
the Secretariat. The Governor of the BCEAO attends the meetings of the Council
with advisory voice. The Council meets at least twice a year and makes its
decisions unanimously. It rests with to him to modify the definition of the
monetary unit and consequently to determine the declaration of parity of the
currency of the Union to carry out at the International Monetary International
Monetary Funds.
II.1.1-3 it Commission
The Commission of the UEMOA exerts, for correct operation and of
the general interest of the Union, the capacity of execution, delegated by the
Council of Ministers.
It transmits to the Conference and the Council the
recommendations and opinion that it judges useful for the safeguarding and the
development of the Union,
It carries out the budget of the Union and can seize the Court of
Justice in the event of failure of the Member States to the obligations which
fall to them under the terms of the Community legislation.
The office of the Commission is in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
II.1.2 - Bodies of jurisdictional
control
II.1.2 .1 it the Court of Justice
The Court of Justice takes care of the uniform interpretation of
the Community legislation and its application and judges, in particular, the
failures of the States to their «Community obligations». It relative
ensures the respect of the right to interpretation and with the application of
the Treaty of the UEMOA, referee the conflicts between the Member States or the
Union and its agents, it is made up judges, one by State, named for a six years
renewable mandate .Son seat is in Ouagadougou.
It is made up judges, one by State, named for a six years
renewable mandate.
It sits at Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
II-1-2 -2 it Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors controls the accounts of the bodies of the
Union, and the reliability of the budgetary data necessary to the exercise of
the multilateral monitoring.
Three advisers are elected for six years renewable once.
II.1.3 - Bodies of parliamentary control
It Interparliamentary Committee, embryo of the future Parliament
of the Union
The Interparliamentary Committee exploits
an advisory part and of animation of the debates integration. It receives the
annual report of the Commission and is expressed in the form of reports/ratios
or of resolutions.
It precedes the Parliament of the Union which will be in charge
of the democratic control of the bodies of the Union.
It counts 40 members and meets at least once per annum.
Its seat is in Bamako in Mali
The members of the Parliament carry the title of «Deputies
to the Parliament of the UEMOA».
They will be elected by the direct vote for all, for one five
years duration, according to an electoral procedure which will be determined by
additional proceedings of the Conference, after consultation of the
Parliament.
They will exercise their mandate independently and cannot be
bound by instructions of any Member State.
The number of the Deputies by Member State, the methods of their
remuneration, the mode of eligibility like that of the incompatibilities, will
be fixed by an additional act of the Conference, after consultation of the
Parliament.
The Parliament elects its President among his members for one two
years duration and half.
The Parliament meets in two sessions.
The first session opens first Monday of February.
The second session, known as budgetary, opens second Monday of
October.
The Parliament can meet in extraordinary session, on an
order of
precise day, on convocation of its President, is at the request
of
President of the Council of Ministers, is at the request of the
2/3 of the Deputies at least, after information of the President of the Council
of Ministers.
The Parliament is seized by the united annual report of the Court
of Auditors of the UEMOA and the Courses of the Accounts of the Member States
on the evaluation of the systems of control of the accounts in force in the
Union.
In waiting of the election of the Deputies by the direct vote for
all, the Deputies at the Parliament are designated by the Legislative body of
each Member State.
The number of the Deputies is fixed at five per Member State and
the presidency of the Parliament is held by a Deputy arising of the State which
takes the presidency of the Conference.
II.1.4 - Consultative bodies
It Regional Consular Room
The Regional Consular Room is the privileged place of
dialog between the UEMOA and the principal economic operators. The Room,
Consultative body created by the Treaty of the Union, is charged to carry out
the effective implication of the sector deprived in the process of integration
of the UEMOA, by in particular:
it participation in the reflection on the process of integration
and in the implementation of the reforms stopped by the competent Authorities
of the Union;
- the technical support with the national Consular Rooms and its
other members.
- to its initiative or that of the Commission, the Room delivers
opinions on any question relating to the achievement of the objectives of the
Union, in particular the legislations commercial, tax, customs and social; the
trade negociations in which the Union takes part; the creation and the
operation of purses of value or trade, economic observatories; the economic
policy and monetary.
The Room gathers the national consular rooms, the trade
associations and the employers' organizations of the Member States.
The number of the representatives is fixed as it follows for each
Member State:
3 representatives of the consular institutions, 1
representative trade associations or employers' organizations of
industries; 1 representative of the trade associations or the employers'
organizations of the exporting importers/; 1 representative of the trade
associations of the banks and financial establishments ; 1 representative
of a trade association or an employers' organization of a sector indicated by
the national room of trade and industry among the sectors not quoted above.
Its seat is in Lome in Togo.
II.1.5 - Autonomous Specialized
agencies
II.1.5.1 Banks it Central of the States of West Africa (BCEAO)
The Central Bank of the States of West Africa (BCEAO) is
the Issuing house common to the eight Member States of the African Western
Monetary Union (UMOA). The BCEAO is an international publicly-owned
establishment whose seat is fixed in Dakar. In addition to the emission of the
currency symbols in the Member States of the Union of which it has the
exclusive privilege, the BCEAO has in load:
it centralization of the reserves of currencies of the Union
it management of the monetary policy of the Member States of the
Union
held it of the accounts of the (French) Treasury of the States of
the Union
it definition of the banking law applicable to the banks and the
financial establishments
The BCEAO enjoys the exclusive privilege of the monetary emission
on the whole of the Member States of the African Western Monetary Union.
It emits currency symbols, tickets and coins, which have legal
tender and legal tender capacity in the whole of the Member States of the
Union. Creation, the emission and the cancellation of the currency symbols are
decided by the Council of Ministers.
Notwithstanding the development of the scriptural means of
payment, the use of tickets and coins continue to occupy a relatively important
place in the transactions of the economic agents. The movements of bills
between the States are supported by the unicity of the currency symbols.
As regards impression, the Central Bank undertakes permanent
research relating to the authentification of the currency symbols, in order to
reinforce the safety of the tickets which it issues. It is within this
framework that it is advisable to register the decisions taken respectively in
1977, 1991et in 2002, aiming renewing and at supplementing the range of the
bills and the coins in circulation.
The Central Bank also has the role of managing the monetary
policy of the Member States of the Union. This monetary policy aims to:
- to adjust the total liquidity of the economy according to the
evolution of the economic situation, to ensure a price stability
- to promote the economic growth.
The organization and monitoring of banking
The Central Bank defines the regulation applicable to the banks
and financial establishments and exerts in their connection of the functions of
monitoring. Within this framework, the Commission Banking, created on April 24,
1990 and chaired by the Governor of the BCEAO, is charged to take care of the
organization and the control of the banking structure in the UMOA. The BCEAO
ensures the Secretariat-general of the Banking Commission.
The Central Bank assists, with their request, the Governments of
the States of the Union in their relationships to the financial and monetary
institutions international and in the negotiations which they undertake for the
concluding of international financial agreements. It can be in charge of the
execution of these agreements under the conditions fixed by the conventions
approved by the Board of directors. Being in particular the relations of the
States with the International Monetary International Monetary Funds, the
Central Bank ensures the role of financial agent, under the terms of the
provisions of the Convention of September 24, 1981 signed between it and the
Member States.
The Issuing house assists also the States in the fields of the
definition and the follow-up of the execution of the programmes of adjustment
as well as management of the debt. In particular, it assists the Governments in
the negotiations of rééchelonnement of their foreign debt. The
Issuing house also brings its contest in the design, the harmonization and the
application of texts relating to the regulation of the foreign financial
relations. It is within this framework in particular that it ensures, on behalf
of the States, the establishment of their balance of payments.
The Central Bank takes an active part in the reflections carried
out with the partners of the Free zone in the fields of the reform of the
insurances, the social welfare, the mobilization of the saving, the right of
the businesses, as well as economic observatory of the Free zone and regional
poles of formation.
The Central Bank developed a policy of formation with the profit
of its agents which it extended, thereafter, with the financial banks and
establishments, the economic and financial administrations of the Member
States, like with those of certain countries of the under-area. This formation
is ensured by the African Western Center of Formation and Banking Studies
(COFEB), located at the Head office of the BCEAO. The creation of this center
answered the need for harmonizing the management training of the banking
environment, and for bringing a more regional dimension there.
Since its creation in August 1977, the COFEB formed 1407 agents
distributed of 23 promotions, on behalf of the national Administrations (420),
of the Financial Banks and Etablissements (213), other Central Banks (10) and
BCEAO (764). The COFEB succeeds thus the Center of Formation of Abidjan which,
before, formed the executives of the BCEAO.
II.1.5.2 Banks it Western African of Development (BOAD)
The African Western Bank of Development (BOAD) is the common
institution of financing of the development of the States of the African
Western Monetary Union (UMOA), transformed into a African Western Union
Economic and Monetary (UEMOA) by Traité of January 10, 1994. It is
created by Traité signed on November 14, 1973 by its Member States. The
Member States of the BOAD are: the Benign one, Burkina, the Ivory Coast, Guinea
Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. In accordance with the Treaty of the
UEMOA come into effect on August 01, 1994, the BOAD is a common specialized
agency of the Union. It contributes «in all independence to the
achievement of the objectives of the UEMOA without damage of the objectives
which are assigned to him by the Treaty of the UMOA»
The BOAD is a publicly-owned establishment in international
matter which has as an aim, under Article 2 of its Statutes, «to promote
the balanced development of the Member States and to carry out the economic
integration of West Africa» by financing priority projects of rural
development, basic infrastructures, modern infrastructures, telecommunications,
energy, industries, transport, agricultural processing industries, tourism and
other services. Are members of the BOAD and take part in its capital and its
administration:
- Regular members of actions of Benign series
a:, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and
the Central Bank of the States of West Africa (BCEAO), issuing house common to
the eight Member States;
them regular members of actions of series b:
France, Germany, European Union, the African Bank of Development
(BAD), the Kingdom of Belgium.
The capital subscribes of an amount of 350 billion F CFA set out
again between the shareholders of category A and those of category B to the
amount of 95,96% and 4,04% respectively.
The BOAD has in its center three specialized structures :
Cauris Investment SA, Guarantee funds of the Investments Deprived in West
Africa (GARI) and the Swiss Project of Use of the Funds (PUFS).
Cauris Investissement SA is the first joint stock company
Investment with sous-régionale vocation whose activity covers the eight
Member States of the Union.
All the branches of industry are eligible with
the interventions of Cauris Investissement SA except for the companies of
entertainment for adults and the companies of manufacture of weapons.
Cauris Investissement SA intervenes in own capital stocks
(capital or quasi-capital) in the companies having a strong profitability and
growth potential. Its interventions can take the following legal forms:simple
or privileged actions; convertible obligations or with goods of application for
shares; participative loans, accounts - currents of associates.
The activity at December 31, 2003, the interventions of Cauris
Investissement SA relate to participations in 40 operations for an amount of
5,9 billion F CFA.
Cauris Investissement SA takes participations to the amount of 10
to 250 million F CFA accounting for 10 to 35% of the authorized capital of the
company.
The average duration of intervention generally ranges between 4
and 8 years under the terms of which the shares of Cauris Investissement SA are
repurchased, either by the former shareholders, or by introduction out of
purse, or by transfer with thirds in full agreement with the majority
shareholders. Throughout all partnership, the person in charge for the file
remains with the listening of the company and brings support and council with
the Head of undertaking for the decisions of strategic nature without involving
itself in the daily management of the company.
Constituted on the initiative of international organizations of
development, joining together Trade banks and financial establishments
established in the Economic Community of the States of West Africa, the
Guarantee funds of the Investments Deprived in West Africa (GARI) has as an
ambition to facilitate the access of the private companies of the area with the
financings in the medium and long term, by the division, with the credit
institutions, of the risks related to these operations. Gari is a limited
company whose seat is located in Lome.
The countries of intervention are firstly the eight members of
the Union and incidentally all the other members of
CEDEAO.
The eligible companies are those concerning the
private sector and carrying on their activities in the following fields:
manufacturing industry, agricultural processing industry, fishing, mines,
tourism, Construction industries, transport, hotel trade, agriculture.
The guarantee is delivered in the currency of the loan, for one
duration maximum 10 years.
The maximum share is fixed at 50% of the loan
authorized by the credit institution. In the event of simultaneous recourse
with other guarantee funds, the cover rate cumulated is reached a maximum to
60% of incur in the main thing of the loan.
To be eligible, the secured
credits must reach, except particular cases, an amount equal to against value
of 100 million FCFA.
Gari has just extended its activities to the guarantee of the
operations of lifting of resources on the financial markets and monetarists
thorough.
The Swiss Project of Use of the Funds (PUFS) is a cell of
Coordination installation within the BOAD within the framework of the
agreements concluded between the Bank and the Government from the Swiss
Confederation on December 20, 1993, to be used as point of application for the
implementation of the Swiss financial assistance in favor of the countries of
the UEMOA. The PUFS became operational in January 1994. Its principal objective
is to accompany an experimental process of intervention by the BOAD in favor of
the basic organizations (OB) by financing the operations in the form of subsidy
and of credit.
The OB are the groupings, associations of development,
co-operatives, etc legally recognized and carrying on activities in the sectors
of the rural development, the craft industry, the microfinance, etc.
The Swiss Project of Use of the Funds (PUFS) supports operations
of development at base (ODB) in general comprising two main categories of
components: generating activities of incomes and employment (AGR/E) or
activities profitable and measurements of accompaniment to reinforce the
capacities of organization and management of the OB and their activities in
social matter.
The components in social matter are for example health,
education, the drinking water supply of the populations. They contribute in
particular to the qualitative improvement of the living conditions of the
populations.
The PUFS cannot finance operations exclusively limited to
measurements of accompaniment and the social sector, including in a program of
development. On the other hand, it can support operations in the form of credit
with 100% (generally within the framework of a program of development
cofinanced with other financial partners).
The PUFS is opened with the cofinancing of ODB with other
financial partners in order to increase the action leverage of its
interventions, to exchange experiments within the framework of integrated
programs of development.
The office plurality of the resources mobilized by the Bank since
the starting of its operational activities into 1976 rises, at December 31,
2003, 341 billion FCFA, including 317 billion resources of loan and 24 billion
nonrefundable contests.
| 
