The 2019 reform preserved French monetary control behind cosmetic changes

Evidence

Three changes are expected: the BCEAO will no longer be obliged to deposit 50 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves with the French Treasury, which will de facto lead to the closure of its operations account; there should no longer be any representatives of the French state on BCEAO bodies; and finally, the WAEMU CFA franc should be renamed the ‘eco’. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 373 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

For France to shift its stance, the balance of forces will have to change first: history tends to show that France is willing to loosen its grip on Africa only when tensions mount and the risk of ‘losing everything’ becomes too great. The last major change, in 2005 and 2007, with the reduction of the mandatory quota of reserves to be held in the operations accounts from 65 to 50 per cent, is proof of this. It took place only because Equatorial Guinea, which became an important oil producer from 1995 onwards, ten years after entering the franc zone, was reluctant to apply the rules, preferring to place its oil proceeds in the United States. After a heated debate between President Jacques Chirac and his counterpart Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Paris eventually agreed to have the country deposit only 50 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves in the operations account. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 336 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

‘France is the only country in the world to have succeeded in the extraordinary feat of circulating its currency, and only its currency, in politically free countries’, the Cameroonian economist Joseph Tchundjang Pouemi observed in 1980. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 130 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Macron’s 2019 CFA reform was limited and prepared in secrecy; The 2019 Macron reform makes three changes to the WAEMU CFA system — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 373; France uniquely maintained its currency in politically independent countries — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 130 (+2 more)

Related

• Macron’s 2019 CFA reform was limited and prepared in secrecy (similarity 0.93)
• The 2019 Macron reform makes three changes to the WAEMU CFA system (similarity 0.89)
• France only concedes monetary reform when African pressure threatens its position (similarity 0.88)
• France relaxed reserve requirements only under pressure from a defiant member state (similarity 0.85)
• France granted African states nominal monetary rights while denying them in practice (similarity 0.84)
• France uniquely maintained its currency in politically independent countries (similarity 0.82)
• The 1972-1973 reform only cosmetically Africanised the franc zone while keeping French veto power (similarity 0.81)
• France alone preserved its monetary empire after its African colonies gained independence (similarity 0.81)
• African states have effectively paid the French Treasury to hold their reserves. (similarity 0.81)
• France’s guarantee is backed by pooled African reserves and French central bank seats (similarity 0.81)
• France uniquely maintained its monetary zone in Africa after independence (similarity 0.80)
• No franc-zone state dared request monetary independence, leaving France’s influence intact (similarity 0.80)
• France rebranded the CFA franc to undermine ECOWAS monetary integration (similarity 0.80)
• The proposed eco currency is the CFA franc under another name. (similarity 0.80)
• The currency was the core mechanism of French control despite formal sovereignty. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• The 2019 Macron reform makes three changes to the WAEMU CFA system #qualifies (0.70) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 373
• France only concedes monetary reform when African pressure threatens its position #corroborates (0.65) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 336
• France uniquely maintained its currency in politically independent countries #complicates (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 130
• France uniquely maintained its monetary zone in Africa after independence #complicates (0.50) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 84