“This is my last one,” he said. “I have already used the others on a recent trip I took around West Africa.”

The traveler’s check is not from American Express; it is denominated in the West African Units Accounts (WAUA), and fully convertible into the national currencies of ECOWAS member states. WAUA is pegged to the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of the International Monetary Fund and is currently equivalent to about $1.35. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it would be publishing the rates weekly.

The check was launched July 22 in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. It circulates in Nigeria and the 11 participating countries.

With this Nigeria has made a giant stride in her economic integration process with countries in the West African subsector, Minister of Finance Adamu Ciroma said at the launch “This milestone equally shows that we are not complacent about the global trend in regionalism and the need to ensure our competitiveness in the global market for goods and services,” he said.

Offered in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 WAUA, the checks are intended to be used for paying for goods and services within the West African sub-region and are expected to greatly facilitate business transactions in the region. Bulk orders of the checks would be made by the central banks of the individual countries and would then be distributed to the nation’s banks. Clients could then purchase the checks directly from their local commercial and merchant banks or change houses.

The idea of introducing an ECOWAS travelers check actually dates back to 1987, when heads of state of member countries adopted an ECOWAS monetary cooperation program (MCP). The short-term goal of MCP was to introduce a subregional payment instrument to facilitate trade, tourism and other cross-border transactions.