The West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) was also established to undertake all the preparatory work for the introduction of the single currency, and a common central bank in the WAMZ.
At that point, the gold content of the Finnish markka was defined so that it was exactly equivalent to the French franc. The exchange rate of the markka vis-à-vis the French franc was kept constant for 36 years, from the start in 1878 until the outbreak of the First World War.