African economists warned that fixed euro pegging would exclude African economies from global competition

Evidence

The fact that the CFA franc’s parity was set at an artificially high level, as we saw in Chapter 1, penalised African products: they were hard to sell on world markets, except in the context of the commercial preferences granted by the metropole. Conversely, the high external value of the CFA franc favoured imports, especially from the metropole. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 128 (#expands, via linked claim)

By pushing ahead with the so-called convergence criteria, ECOWAS introduced an austerity bias, in the same way that the eurozone member states had done in the 1990s. In trying to meet the convergence criteria, GDP growth fell sharply, and unemployment remained at elevated levels as fiscal austerity did its work, as expected. As a result of the ongoing failure to meet the criteria, ECOWAS regularly pushed out the planned introduction date – first 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014, 2015 and now January 2020. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 32 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Financing local food production would save rather than deplete African foreign reserves; Pursuing maastricht-style convergence criteria cut West African GDP growth and repeatedly delayed currency plans — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 32; The same strong euro that hurts France devastates African export competitiveness (+4 more)

Related

• Eurozone membership merged CFA extraction with neoliberal austerity, worsening African prospects. (similarity 0.90)
• The same strong euro that hurts France devastates African export competitiveness (similarity 0.89)
• ECOWAS convergence criteria are unrealistic for volatile African economies (similarity 0.88)
• Euro pegging diverts trade toward France and blocks local industrialization. (similarity 0.87)
• Pursuing maastricht-style convergence criteria cut West African GDP growth and repeatedly delayed currency plans (similarity 0.86)
• France’s strong-franc policy worsened CFA countries’ competitiveness (similarity 0.84)
• The CFA franc’s parity was set without regard for local economic realities (similarity 0.84)
• CFA convertibility guarantee is cheap only because African economies stay small. (similarity 0.84)
• The CFA franc was a political choice that deprived non-adapting African actors of credit (similarity 0.83)
• France’s own anti-inflation policies against the mark caused the CFA overvaluation that forced crisis. (similarity 0.83)
• Euro appreciation deteriorates franc zone trade balances (similarity 0.83)
• Four structural handicaps explain the franc zone’s poor socioeconomic performance (similarity 0.83)
• The 1939 franc zone was designed as a defensive shield for France’s economy (similarity 0.82)
• The CFA franc’s fixed peg forced colonies to absorb French devaluations helplessly (similarity 0.82)
• An overvalued CFA franc penalised African exports while favouring imports from France (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• An overvalued CFA franc penalised African exports while favouring imports from France #expands (0.75) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 128
• The same strong euro that hurts France devastates African export competitiveness #corroborates (0.70)
• Pursuing maastricht-style convergence criteria cut West African GDP growth and repeatedly delayed currency plans #corroborates (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 32
• CFA franc’s real aims were draining colonial wealth into France, not African progress. #corroborates (0.50) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 44
• The single pegged currency structure drained African resources toward the metropole. #expands (0.50)
• Eurozone membership merged CFA extraction with neoliberal austerity, worsening African prospects. #corroborates (0.45)