The CFA Franc as an Instrument for Preserving the Colonial Order in West and Central Africa

At the moment, France exerts a huge political and economic influence on the countries of West and Central Africa through the franc zone — the monetary union of France and its former African colonies, which uses the CFA franc currency pegged to the main currency of France (currently it is the euro). The CFA Franc was introduced as a currency unit in 1945, when African countries still were colonies. Then the French government decided to impede decolonization by means of financial methods of influence – a monetary union. One of the principles of the franc zone is the requirement for African States to keep part of their foreign exchange reserves in France. It is this principle that causes the greatest outrage not only in Africa, but also on the European continent. Opponents of the franc zone point out that the former colonies still pay «tribute» to the French government. The purpose of this study is to detect the reasons for France’s success in maintaining the franc zone, as well as to determine the benefits that France receives and the losses incurred by African countries from maintaining the CFA franc system. The study highlighted the following conclusions: the main reasons for France’s success in West and Central Africa are the weak economic development of the region; the desire of the elites of the countries of the region to receive assistance from the former metropoly, including for personal enrichment. The CFA franc represents the only case of preserving the colonial monetary unit, with the help of which the economic exploitation of West and Central Africa continues to the present day using the «old methods». For France, the franc zone provides an opportunity to maintain political and economic influence in the region. For African countries, this system hinders their development by withdrawing a significant part of national resources from the economy and sending them to France.

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