Africa's monetary integration plans : an empirical assessment

The African Union seeks to create eight regional economic and monetary communities until 2023, which shall ultimately be merged to a continental African Economic and Monetary Union until 2034. As the economic rationale for creating a single market for goods, services and labor seem straightforward; making a compelling case for a single currency is much harder. This dissertation empirically assesses how Africa and its regions meet the criteria for optimum currency areas and concludes that Africa should abandon its plans of monetary unification for the foreseeable future.<eng>