The works of the second annual ordinary session of the council of ministers of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Umoa) were launched at the national headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) by Ivorian Adama Coulibaly, president of the institution, this Friday, July 11 in Lomé. The meeting takes place in “an international context marked by rising uncertainties, notably fueled by commercial and geopolitical tensions, as well as the persistence of security challenges in our region,” said the Minister of Finance and Budget of Côte d’Ivoire.
“Within our zone, economic activity has nevertheless remained dynamic. Gross domestic product increased by 7.1%, in real terms, in the first quarter of 2025 after a rise of 7.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the whole of 2025, the economic growth rate is expected to reach 6.4%, after 6.3% in 2024, under the impetus of all sectors, particularly manufacturing and extractive sectors,” declared the council president at the beginning of the works.
As for the inflation rate, it decreased in the first quarter of 2025, dropping from 2.9% to 2.3%. A decline that the Ivorian minister attributes “to a weaker increase in the prices of imported products, notably energy, and to the effects of monetary policy measures.” According to forecasts, he said, inflation should be at 2.2% in 2025, against 3.5% in 2024.
For its part, the budget deficit decreased in the first semester of 2025, standing at 4.2% of GDP compared to 5.1% in the same period of the previous year. A favorable evolution supported by the continued efforts to increase tax revenues and control expenses by member states, according to Mr. Coulibaly.
On the agenda of this statutory meeting bringing together the Umoa council of ministers in Lomé, there will be, among other things, the examination of the execution report of the multilateral surveillance of the Uemoa commission for the first semester of 2025. The approval of the annual accounts of the Financial Markets Authority of Umoa (AMF-Umoa) is also planned.
