5 West African nations agreed to change the name of their common currency from CFA Franc to Eco in December 2019. This currency is introduced under the framework of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The objective is to create a common currency for all West Africa states. This will also serve to enable the French-speaking West African region to abandon the CFA Franc for the ECO as part of process to gain complete fiscal and monetary independence from France.