@book{2021:prasad:regional_i,
title = {Regional Integration in West Africa: Is There a Role for a Single Currency?},
year = {2021},
note = {Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union        
   Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency
union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward
achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region
is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish
the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of
time.      The proposed union offers many potential benefits,
especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and
weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past
two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing
disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs,
along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these
potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders
seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline.      This book, by two leading
experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical
contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could
achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the
African continent.},
edition = {},
publisher = {Rowman & Littlefield},
address = {Lanham},
series = {},
volume = {},
author = {Prasad, Eswar and Songwe, Vera}
}