Tax coordination in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is one of the most advanced in the world, de jure at least. Since the late 1990s, a number of indirect and direct tax directives have been produced, limiting member States in the conduct of their national tax policies. The...

The WAEMU has, so far, demonstrated strong resilience to the Covid crisis. The economic rebound that started in the second half of 2020 firmed up in 2021, while fiscal and monetary policies remained supportive. External reserves have risen to comfortable levels and the financial system appears...

Could a West African monetary union (either of the non-CFA countries, or all ECOWAS members) be an effective "agency of restraint" on fiscal policies? We discuss how monetary union could affect fiscal discipline and the arguments for explicit fiscal restraints considered in the European Monetary...