The CFA franc structurally denied credit to economic actors outside colonial accumulation

Evidence

The functioning of the banking system of the franc zone also served to orient the allocation of resources in such a way as to further benefit the metropole and its operators: bank credit was mainly reserved for those sectors whose products were exported to the metropole and generated foreign currency, to the detriment of productions destined for national markets. … Because of this handicap, associated with other non-monetary barriers such as the lack of infrastructure and trade protection, African companies often found themselves in the position of not being able to compete with foreign economic operators on their national markets. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 128 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Thus, a monetary system that represses internal credit, such as the CFA system, reflects a lack of confidence in the ability of economic agents to make productive use of bank loans: etymologically, the word ‘credit’ comes from the Latin ‘credere’, which means ‘to trust’ or ‘to believe’. In this context, the paucity of bank loans is not the result of a lack of national savings. Quite the opposite: since loans create deposits, it is the paucity of loans that causes the scarcity of savings! — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 140 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The CFA franc’s real purpose was draining colonial wealth to France.; The CFA franc was a colonial instrument depriving African actors of credit.; The CFA franc was a political choice that deprived non-adapting African actors of credit — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 192 (+11 more)

Related

• The CFA system’s credit repression causes savings scarcity, not the reverse (similarity 0.93)
• The CFA franc was a colonial instrument depriving African actors of credit. (similarity 0.92)
• Scarce CFA credit causes savings scarcity, not the reverse. (similarity 0.92)
• The CFA franc was a political choice that deprived non-adapting African actors of credit (similarity 0.91)
• Franc-zone bank credit allocation suppressed African firms competing with French companies (similarity 0.90)
• The CFA system blocks African countries from financing their own agricultural development (similarity 0.89)
• The CFA franc’s parity was set without regard for local economic realities (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA central banks subordinate domestic credit to defending the euro parity. (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA franc’s real purpose was draining colonial wealth to France. (similarity 0.87)
• CFA franc’s real aims were draining colonial wealth into France, not African progress. (similarity 0.86)
• Franc-zone central banks must restrict domestic credit to defend the fixed euro parity (similarity 0.86)
• Eurozone membership merged CFA extraction with neoliberal austerity, worsening African prospects. (similarity 0.86)
• CFA convertibility guarantee is cheap only because African economies stay small. (similarity 0.85)
• African deputies publicly exposed the CFA franc as a tool of the colonial pact (similarity 0.85)
• Scarcity of savings stems from scarcity of loans, not vice versa (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• The CFA franc was a colonial instrument depriving African actors of credit. #corroborates (0.90)
• Franc-zone bank credit allocation suppressed African firms competing with French companies #exemplifies (0.70) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 128
• The CFA system’s credit repression causes savings scarcity, not the reverse #corroborates (0.65) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 140
• Scarce CFA credit causes savings scarcity, not the reverse. #corroborates (0.65)
• The CFA franc was a political choice that deprived non-adapting African actors of credit #qualifies (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 192
• The CFA system blocks African countries from financing their own agricultural development #exemplifies (0.55) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 145
• The CFA central banks subordinate domestic credit to defending the euro parity. #expands (0.55) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 308
• The CFA franc’s parity was set without regard for local economic realities #expands (0.40)
• An overvalued CFA franc was engineered to reorient colonial trade toward France #expands (0.30)
• CFA franc value is set politically, insulated from market economic conditions #expands (0.30) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 97