Two CFA francs serve 162 million people across 15 states under one franc zone

Evidence

This tether, invisible but firmly secured, is not the product of Yapsy’s imagination: it actually exists and has been in place since the colonial period, precisely since 1945, when the CFA franc was created. It doesn’t bind France only to the Ivory Coast, but to a total of 14 countries, grouped into two monetary zones: the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU, also known by its French name UEMOA: Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine), comprising Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo; and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC from its name in French: Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale), which includes Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. These two monetary unions each have their own central bank. They use two distinct CFA francs, but which share the same acronym: for the CEMAC franc, CFA stands for ‘Financial Cooperation in Central Africa’, while for the WAEMU franc it stands for ‘African Financial Community’. The two CFA francs work in exactly the same manner and are pegged to the euro with the same parity. However, the CFA banknotes of these two monetary unions are not directly convertible into one another: if you want to exchange a CFA franc of the CEMAC for a CFA franc of the WAEMU, or vice versa, you generally have to go through the euro. A fifteenth state, the Comoros, uses another franc, the Comorian franc, but is also linked to France by the same rope. These 15 states comprise the so-called ‘franc zone’, an area governed by common principles of monetary management. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 40 (#expands, via linked claim)

As a key part of this strategy, the French introduced a common currency in 1945 for several African colonies – the CFA franc (originally franc des colonies françaises d’Afrique). The official French government line was that the currency would protect the colonies from inflation arising from the devalued French franc, a consequence of the devastation experienced during World War II. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 23 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fourteen countries plus the Comoros use CFA-linked francs dating from 1945.; CFA francs are non-convertible among the three African franc-zone sub-units; Two separate CFA francs serve 14 states in non-interconvertible unions pegged to the euro. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 40 (+4 more)

Related

• Fourteen countries plus the Comoros use CFA-linked francs dating from 1945. (similarity 0.96)
• Two separate CFA francs serve 14 states in non-interconvertible unions pegged to the euro. (similarity 0.96)
• CFA francs are non-convertible among the three African franc-zone sub-units (similarity 0.89)
• France introduced the CFA franc to several African colonies in 1945 (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA franc gives France instruments to control the politics of 15 African states. (similarity 0.87)
• The CFA franc originated in 1945 as a Françafrique control tool. (similarity 0.86)
• The CFA franc’s parity was set without regard for local economic realities (similarity 0.86)
• The CFA system gives France instruments to steer franc-zone politics (similarity 0.86)
• The CFA franc functions as a political instrument of pressure over 15 African states. (similarity 0.86)
• The CFA franc was created on 25 December 1945 by French decree. (similarity 0.85)
• Portugal replicated France’s currency cooperation model with Cabo Verde. (similarity 0.85)
• CFA francs are not convertible anywhere in the world outside the French Treasury framework (similarity 0.85)
• The CFA franc is the central weapon of Françafrique’s neocolonial domination (similarity 0.85)
• The CFA franc is a tool to preserve French dominance post-independence. (similarity 0.85)
• France avoided needing dollars to buy from CFA-zone countries. (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Two separate CFA francs serve 14 states in non-interconvertible unions pegged to the euro. #expands (0.80) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 40
• France introduced the CFA franc to several African colonies in 1945 #expands (0.60) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 23
• The CFA franc gives France instruments to control the politics of 15 African states. #expands (0.50) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 268
• The CFA system gives France instruments to steer franc-zone politics #expands (0.50)
• CFA franc parity was frozen at 50 per French franc from 1958 to 1994 #expands (0.50)