Image used to illustrate the article. Photo Source: The Future African Forum.
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On Feb. 17, 2026, a self-proclaimed Instagram investment influencer posted a video claiming that by 2027, the Naira will be gone and replaced by the Eco currency.
The video trailed a Feb. 14, 2026, statement issued by the presidency informing of the convergence of central bank governors from 12 West African countries under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to finalise technical and institutional frameworks for the Eco currency.
She explained that the Eco currency is a combination of currencies of 12 African countries that are member states of ECOWAS.
The user added that the Eco currency will mirror the type used by some countries in the European Union, like the Euro. She noted that while preparations for elections are ongoing, plans to roll out the Eco currency are being finalised. She encouraged Nigerians to begin asking relevant questions before the unified currency is implemented.
Due to the video’s virality and the controversial debates it has generated, DUBAWA decided to clear the air with this explainer.
What is Eco currency?
The Eco Currency is a proposed common currency for West African countries. An article from the World Economic Forum explained that the currency could be used by the ECOWAS countries to promote trade, integrate markets, strengthen economic ties, and make the region stronger.
As early as the year 2000, West African countries expressed their desire to accelerate the process of monetary integration initiated in the early 1980s. This led to a project to phase in a single currency for West Africa. In the first phase of this plan, a single currency called ECO was to be launched by Member States of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) in January 2015. WAMZ covers The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
In the second phase, WAMZ was to merge with the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) to create a single currency for all 15 ECOWAS Member States by 2020. These plans were postponed in 2003, 2005, and 2009. Insufficient preparation and economic convergence among the Member States of WAMZ also stalled the launch of the ECO in July 2015.
West African authorities, therefore, changed strategy, abandoning the 2015 interim stage of a single currency in WAMU and settling for the creation of a single currency across the whole ECOWAS for 2020. However, the launch was also postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and failure to meet convergence criteria.
The current target for introduction is July 2027. Note that the countries that made up ECOWAS prior to now were Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Togo. However, only 12 countries remain, as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger left the Community in January 2025.
Will Nigeria abandon the Naira for the Eco currency?
As of Feb. 23, 2026, neither the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), nor ECOWAS has issued any public announcement that the Eco currency will replace the Naira in 2027.
If the Eco currency is successfully introduced, the implementation will not be automatic. Nigeria would still have to converge and decide whether to participate voluntarily. At this point, the decision would already be public knowledge.
Moreover, Wale Edun, Nigeria’s Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, previously confirmed that before any “common currency” can be launched, participating countries must meet criteria covering major economic indicators such as fiscal deficits and inflation.
The primary criteria include single-digit inflation at the end of each year; a fiscal deficit of no more than 4 per cent of GDP; central bank deficit financing of no more than 10 per cent of the previous year’s tax; and three months of reserves to cover imports.
The six secondary criteria include tax revenue greater than 20 per cent of GDP, wage bill-to-tax equal to or less than 35 per cent, public investment-to-tax revenue equal to or greater than 20 per cent, a stable real exchange rate, and a positive real interest rate.
Without meeting these criteria, adopting this currency may not be possible. At the same time, given that plans to launch Eco Currency had shifted multiple times between 2000 and 2020, there is also a likelihood that it will be postponed again by 2027.
