French Treasury supervision is the backbone of the CFA system’s operations

Evidence

The French government intervenes through the French Treasury, which depends on the Ministry of Finance. It provides its guarantee of convertibility and manages the ‘operations accounts’ of the African central banks, which are, de facto, placed under its supervision. The Bank of France is the French Treasury’s bank and it manages its accounts, including the operations accounts. It also acts as a correspondent central bank for the BCEAO, the BEAC and the BCC. This means that they have accounts at the Bank of France – different from the operations accounts – that function as normal bank accounts. If the BEAC, for example, wants to transfer a sum in euros to an operator in France, it orders its local correspondent, the Bank of France, to carry out this transaction. It is through this system of correspondents that the central banks manage their external financial relations. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 111

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies how Operations accounts and correspondent banking work within the CFA system.
• XREF: connects to: Unlimited CFA convertibility is guaranteed by the French Treasury lending as needed; The CFA franc functions as a political instrument of pressure over 15 African states.; The CFA franc is the central weapon of Françafrique’s neocolonial domination (+5 more)

Related

• The CFA system requires African central banks to deposit half their reserves with France. (similarity 0.87)
• French Treasury guarantees unlimited convertibility by lending money to franc zone central banks (similarity 0.86)
• CFA francs are not convertible anywhere in the world outside the French Treasury framework (similarity 0.85)
• The French Treasury holds accounts in each franc zone central bank (similarity 0.85)
• The CFA system gives France instruments to steer franc-zone politics (similarity 0.85)
• Unlimited CFA convertibility is guaranteed by the French Treasury lending as needed (similarity 0.85)
• African central banks must deposit half their reserves at the French Treasury (similarity 0.85)
• The CFA central banks violate their own strict controls when serving French interests. (similarity 0.85)
• When franc zone accounts are in credit, the central banks finance the French Treasury (similarity 0.84)
• France’s guarantee is backed by pooled African reserves and French central bank seats (similarity 0.84)
• France can veto CFA central bank decisions and the ECB sets policy (similarity 0.84)
• CFA francs are non-convertible among the three African franc-zone sub-units (similarity 0.84)
• The CFA franc is the central weapon of Françafrique’s neocolonial domination (similarity 0.84)
• France used the BCEAO Central Bank to paralyze a targeted African government (similarity 0.83)
• The CFA franc gives France instruments to control the politics of 15 African states. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• CFA francs are not convertible anywhere in the world outside the French Treasury framework #expands (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 100
• CFA franc value is set politically, insulated from market economic conditions #expands (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 97