In 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic on trade, the member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) were able to meet the challenge of exporting their goods and services, particularly raw materials. Thus, exports from WAEMU member countries increased by 0.5%, with Côte d'Ivoire as the leading country for an export rate of 40.8%.

The UEMOA foreign trade report for the year 2020 published by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), indicates that the total exports of goods in value of the countries of the UEMOA stood at 17,753 billion CFA francs in 2020. That is to say, an increase of 0.5% compared to the level recorded in 2019. Taken differently, member countries recorded declines in performance, even if the ranks have not changed. Côte d'Ivoire remains the leading exporting country in the Union with 40.8%. It is followed by Burkina Faso (15.6%), Mali (14.6%) and Senegal (13.7%). Next comes Benin, which ranks 5th with ^7.9 % of the shares. Contributions to growth fell for Benin (-2.2 points), Côte d'Ivoire (-0.9 point), Senegal (-0.9 point), Togo (-0.3 point) and Guinea-Bissau (-0.2 points) in 2020. The main contributors to export growth were Burkina (+2.6 points) and Mali (+2.4 points).

The overall development of exports in the Union is essentially attributable to an increase in sales of gold (31.1%), cocoa (2.4%), rubber (12.5%) and to a lesser measure of cashew (+0.5%). “Exports of goods remain dominated by gold (31.8%) and cocoa (16.8%), followed by petroleum products (6.8%), cotton (4.8%) and cashew (3.9%). EU services exports stood at 2.7% of GDP in 2020, down 0.8 percentage points of GDP from their 2019 level, mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic , particularly in the tourism sector. Their relative weight in total EU exports stood at 12.1% in 2020 compared to 15.0% in 2019, i.e. a drop of 2.9 percentage points. In nominal terms, they fell by 21.6%,” the report said.