Eight West African countries will soon be using a new currency. The old one may not have been well known, but for 75 years the CFA, as it is referred to in French, has been used as money from Senegal to Niger and most places in between.
But now, the French government has officially approved the end of the CFA franc.
That means France will cease to co-manage the West African currency. The Bank of France will no longer hold half of the currency’s reserves, and a replacement currency, the ECO, will be introduced.
But it will keep its exchange rate fixed to the euro.France negotiated with its former colonies for three years before reaching the deal last year.
But is this genuine change or just a rebrand?
Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria
Guests
Ken Ife – Macroeconomic policy analyst and consultant to the ECOWAS Commission
Marie-Roger Biloa – West Africa analyst and chief executive director of the Africa International Media Group
Tony Chafer – Professor of African and French Studies at the University of Portsmouth
Source: Aljazeera
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.