History
Created on January 10, 1994, in Dakar, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) aims to build a harmonized and integrated economic space in West Africa, within which there is total freedom of movement of people, capital, goods, services, and factors of production, as well as the effective exercise and establishment rights for liberal professions, and residency rights for citizens throughout the community territory.
Eight coastal and Sahelian states, linked by the use of a common currency, the FCFA, and benefiting from common cultural traditions, make up the UEMOA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. UEMOA covers an area of 3,506,126 km² and has a population of 123.6 million. The GDP growth rate, at constant prices, was 6.1% in 2019. (Source: INS/C. UEMOA: RSM June 2020)
Logo
UEMOA is represented by a logo symbolizing growth, unity, solidarity, and complementarity between coastal and Sahelian states.
The logo represents two dynamic and elliptical shapes that, despite their specificities, interweave to express two strong concepts: solidarity and complementarity of the Union's states and peoples. This solidarity and complementarity are ready to be unleashed in a continuous upward movement that will lead to the economic, social, and cultural development of our respective populations. Here, the energy of the forest lianas harmonizes with the warm and vibrant vibrations of the Sahel to produce the sphere of happiness illustrating the characteristics and objectives of UEMOA:
Natural resources and material equipment (1/2 blue lower hemisphere), intellectual resources (1/2 gold hemisphere); the white circle expresses the Peace, Serenity, and Stability that must remain the anchoring points of UEMOA's integration process.
