In terms of convergence in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), no state met the three first-tier criteria in 2018, according to the WAEMU Commission based in Ouagadougou.

These primary criteria concern the overall budget balance ratio, including grants, relative to nominal GDP, greater than or equal to -3%, the average annual inflation rate of a maximum of 3% per year and the ratio of outstanding internal and external debt relative to nominal GDP, less than or equal to 70%.

The report on multilateral surveillance in WAEMU prepared by the WAEMU Commission reveals concerning the first criterion that “only Togo has complied with this criterion”. By state, mixed fortunes are noted: Benin (-4.0%), Burkina Faso (-4.9%), Côte d'Ivoire (-4.0%), Guinea-Bissau (-5.1%) , Mali (-4.7%), Niger (-4.1%), Senegal (-3.7%) and Togo (-0.8%). “In 2019, projects the WAEMU Commission, all member states would respect this criterion”.

Regarding the inflation rate, all Member States met this criterion in 2018. By country, the inflation rate is as follows: Benin (0.8%), Burkina Faso (1.9%), Côte d Ivory (0.6%), Guinea-Bissau (0.4%), Mali (0.0%), Niger (2.7%), Senegal (0.5%) and Togo (0.9%) .

As for the ratio of outstanding domestic and external debt to nominal GDP, less than or equal to 70%, only Togo with a rate of 73.9% did not meet this criterion. By country, this ratio is 56.2% for Benin, 42.3% for Burkina Faso, 48.6% for Côte d'Ivoire, 50.1% in Guinea-Bissau, 36.6% in Mali , 45.4% in Niger and 54.0% in Senegal. According to the WAEMU Commission, in 2019, all States would meet this criterion.

Concerning the second-tier criteria relating to The ratio of the wage bill to tax revenue, less than or equal to 35% and the rate of tax pressure, greater than or equal to 20%, the state of convergence also reveals their non-respect by all States.

Only two states have a wage bill to tax revenue ratio below 35%.

These are Niger (34.7%) and Senegal (34.3%). For the other Member States, the ratio varies between 52.1% (Burkina Faso) and 36.6 (Togo).

As for the rate of tax pressure, no State met this criterion in 2018. By Member State, the situation is as follows: Benin (14.1%), Burkina Faso (17.2%), Côte d'Ivoire ( 16.2%), Guinea-Bissau (9.3%), Mali (11.8%), Niger (15.2%), Senegal (15.2%) and Togo (18.4%). According to the WAEMU Commission, Togo would be the only State to meet this criterion in 2019.

With the year of the convergence horizon set at 2019, forecasts by WAEMU Commission officials indicate that all member states would meet the three primary criteria. “However, they note, this would not be enough to bring the Union into the stability phase in 2020 due to non-compliance with the provisions relating to sustainability”.