In 1955, the French government transferred the note-issuance privilege for its West African colonies, hitherto held by the
Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale, to a newly created entity based in Paris, The treaty establishing the
West African Monetary Union was signed on and gave BCEAO the exclusive right to issue currency as the common
central bank for the, then, seven member countries:
Côte d'Ivoire, the
Republic of Dahomey (later renamed
Benin),
Haute-Volta (later renamed
Burkina Faso),
Mali,
Mauritania,
Niger, and
Senegal. The statutes of the bank were subsequently approved in November 1962 and remained essentially unchanged until 1974, providing for dominant French influence over the BCEAO's governance. On , Mali left the group and adopted the
Malian franc as national currency. On , Togo officially joined the UMOA. On , Mauritania withdrew and adopted the
ouguiya as national currency. On , Mali re-joined the UMOA. The BCEAO's statutes were amended in 2010 to grant it greater independence from member states. In August 2025, the BCEAO announced the launch of the E-CFA, and the creation of an instant payment platform called "Pi-Spi". ==Banking Commission==