CFA franc

CFA franc (Communauté Financière Africaine / African Financial Community franc) is a currency created in 1945 and used by several West and Central African countries, issued as part of France’s colonial monetary system. It is widely described as a tool for maintaining French economic dominance over its former African colonies through mechanisms such as overvaluation and the transfer of colonial wealth to France.

Claims that use this term

• The CFA franc persists because French and African elites both profit from it
• The CFA franc originated in 1945 as a Françafrique control tool.
• The CFA franc is a tool to preserve French dominance post-independence.
• The CFA franc’s real purpose was draining colonial wealth to France.
• The CFA franc was deliberately overvalued against the metropolitan franc.
• The CFA franc was created on 25 December 1945 by French decree.