West African Bankers' Association West African Bankers' Association The West African Bankers' Association (WABA; ) is a professional association of banking and financial services and institutions in West Africa. It has its headquarters and offices in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The WABA was created in August 10, 1981 with the main purpose of supporting and developing the West African Clearing House (WACH). The organization has banking, securities, and auditing institutions, and individual members. The secretary general is Sega Balde, with Rev Ifeanyi IWANDE as president. The central banks
History of Liberia Leone, and the Natives of Africa generally, in the Cultivation of their Soil, by the Sale of their Produce.” As Wright put it, "Cuffee hoped to send at least one vessel each year to Sierra Leone, transporting African-American settlers and goods to the colony and returning with marketable African products." The first ship, "Mayflower of Liberia" (formerly "Elizabeth"), departed New York on February 6, 1820, for West Africa carrying 86 settlers. Between 1821 and 1838, the American Colonization Society developed the first settlement, which would be known as Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the country declared independence. As early as