Seventy years in, franc zone states still export unprocessed raw materials to Europe

Evidence

The foreign trade of African countries has certainly changed a lot over the years: between 1960 and 2000 they traded mostly with Europe, and less and less with France compared to other European countries, while from 2000 onwards they have gradually reoriented their trade towards China and the African continent. But this has not changed the model of vertical economic integration inherited from the colonial era. More than 70 years after the introduction of the CFA franc, the African countries remain largely producers of unprocessed raw materials and trade more with Europe than with each other. The franc zone remains a ‘primary association’, that is, an area that unites ‘a series of underdeveloped countries around a single economically developed country’, according to an old terminology of the 1960s. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 287

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘primary association’ — the 1960s term for an area uniting underdeveloped countries around one developed country, directly relevant to the colonial pact theme.
• XREF: connects to: Recent franc zone growth only recovers past peaks, not net progress — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 282

Related

• The colonial vertical-integration trade model persists despite reoriented trading partners (similarity 0.82)
• Franc zone economies have stagnated since independence, with most growing under 1 percent yearly (similarity 0.81)
• Even French official bodies openly acknowledge the franc zone serves French influence. (similarity 0.81)
• Two CFA francs serve 162 million people across 15 states under one franc zone (similarity 0.81)
• Eurozone membership merged CFA extraction with neoliberal austerity, worsening African prospects. (similarity 0.80)
• Free trade agreements would doubly penalize franc zone producers. (similarity 0.80)
• Euro appreciation deteriorates franc zone trade balances (similarity 0.80)
• France avoided needing dollars to buy from CFA-zone countries. (similarity 0.79)
• Fourteen countries plus the Comoros use CFA-linked francs dating from 1945. (similarity 0.79)
• Franc zone growth mostly reflects multinational activity, not local productive capacity (similarity 0.79)
• The CFA system gives France instruments to steer franc-zone politics (similarity 0.79)
• Franc zone growth is uneven and often strongly negative (similarity 0.79)
• CFA notes and coins are still manufactured in France. (similarity 0.79)
• The CFA franc gives France instruments to control the politics of 15 African states. (similarity 0.79)
• The CFA franc persists because French and African elite interests both benefit. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Recent franc zone growth only recovers past peaks, not net progress #complicates (0.55) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 282