IMF programmes in CEMAC served to block Chinese lending influence in the region.

Evidence

From the point of view of the IMF, the operation was a success, since it allowed it to recover a central role in the affairs of the CEMAC, where it had been scarcely present since the mid-2000s. During the following months, the states of the region began negotiations with the Fund. Chad, for example, obtained a loan of €255 million over three years. In exchange, it had to commit to reducing public spending, resulting in a reduction in the salaries of public employees. France had reason to celebrate as well: as in 1994, once again it had managed to escape its role as guarantor. Above all, the return of the IMF would help curtail China’s influence in the region, which had become too cumbersome in the eyes of Westerners: a state that is subject to an IMF programme is in fact forbidden from taking out non-concessional loan – that is, loans at market rates, instead of low-interest loans granted at preferential rates – and from getting into debt with third entities or countries without the prior consent of the IMF. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 239

Categorization

• XREF: Sheds light on the geopolitical dimension of the franc zone — competition between France and China for African monetary relationships.

Related

• Leaving the CFA only to enter IMF tutelage is no improvement. (similarity 0.78)