The CFA franc persists because French and African elites both profit from it

Evidence

If the CFA franc continues to exist, in spite of the most elementary economic and political sense, it is because a series of very powerful actors benefit from it. The franc zone contributes to maintaining a private domain for France and guaranteeing monopoly positions for French enterprises, while the French state has access to reliable sources of low-cost raw materials that it can pay for in its currency, all with the more or less active complicity of the African elites who have come to power – and remain in power – with France’s support. The anachronism of the CFA franc survives, therefore, because it satisfies both the interests of the French as well as those of the African ruling classes. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 360 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Ultimately, we are in the presence of a mechanism that defies belief: France uses its presumed role of ‘guarantor’ as a pretext and as a tool to blackmail its former colonies in order to keep them in its orbit, both economically and politically, as we will see in Chapters 4 and 5. Worse, the African states not only guarantee the convertibility of the CFA franc with their own reserves, but continue, in fact, to ‘guarantee’ France’s leading position in the global economy, by accruing important benefits to its economy. All the foundations of the CFA system are based on a mug’s game. Therefore, it is not surprising that African leaders, following their countries’ independence, immediately mobilised against the CFA franc. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 146 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The CFA franc persists because French and African elite interests both benefit. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 360; The CFA guarantee arrangement secretly benefits France at Africa’s expense — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 146; The CFA franc is a tool to preserve French dominance post-independence. (+3 more)

Related

• The CFA franc persists because French and African elite interests both benefit. (similarity 0.95)
• The CFA guarantee arrangement secretly benefits France at Africa’s expense (similarity 0.93)
• The CFA franc is a tool to preserve French dominance post-independence. (similarity 0.92)
• The CFA franc’s real purpose was draining colonial wealth to France. (similarity 0.91)
• France alone preserved its monetary empire after its African colonies gained independence (similarity 0.89)
• The CFA franc is the central weapon of Françafrique’s neocolonial domination (similarity 0.88)
• African deputies publicly exposed the CFA franc as a tool of the colonial pact (similarity 0.88)
• The CFA franc was a colonial instrument depriving African actors of credit. (similarity 0.88)
• CFA convertibility guarantee is cheap only because African economies stay small. (similarity 0.88)
• CFA franc’s real aims were draining colonial wealth into France, not African progress. (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA system gives France instruments to steer franc-zone politics (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA franc originated in 1945 as a Françafrique control tool. (similarity 0.87)
• The French guarantee of the CFA franc was illusory since African reserves exceeded debts (similarity 0.87)
• CFA francs are non-convertible among the three African franc-zone sub-units (similarity 0.86)
• France’s guarantee is backed by pooled African reserves and French central bank seats (similarity 0.86)

Broader Connections

• The CFA franc persists because French and African elite interests both benefit. #corroborates (0.95) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 360
• The CFA guarantee arrangement secretly benefits France at Africa’s expense #expands (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 146
• The CFA franc is a tool to preserve French dominance post-independence. #expands (0.60)
• CFA franc’s real aims were draining colonial wealth into France, not African progress. #expands (0.55) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 44
• De Gaulle engineered a loaded independence that kept African elites aligned with France. #corroborates (0.50)
• The currency was the core mechanism of French control despite formal sovereignty. #responds-to (0.40) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 87