FREETOWN, July 1 (Reuters) - Travellers cheques denominated in West
African Units of Account (WAUA) officially went on sale on Thursday in the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Monetary
Agency (WAMA) said.

ECOWAS covers 16 countries -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

The WAUA will follow the value of the Special Drawing Right and the
cheques will be in denominations from five to 100 WAUA.

George Osaka, WAMA director of research and operations, told Reuters
that WAMA's Freetown headquarters would set an exchange rate against the
various West African currencies once every two weeks. The cheques would then be
exchangeable around the region at that rate for two weeks.

Banks will be allowed to make a spread of a maximum of one percent
around the rate when buying or selling the cheques but will not be allowed to
charge commission, according to central bank officials in the region.

There has been wide publicity for the cheques in Freetown this week and
campaigns have been launched in certain other ECOWAS countries.

The cheques were not available in banks in Abidjan, and publicity
campaigns in Ivory Coast and the other seven CFA franc countries had been
delayed for technical reasons, an official at their common central bank, the
Dakar-based BCEAO, said.

ECOWAS officials see the travellers cheque as a step towards monetary
union and are hoping that they will stimulate regional trade.

12:27 07-01-99

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.

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