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Debate Intensifies Over Future of CFA Franc in West Africa

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   YAOUNDE, CAMEROON - Debate on the future of the CFA franc in the
   six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has
   intensified after it was announced last week that eight West African
   countries agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco.
   They also severed the CFA franc's links to former colonial ruler
   France.

   The CFA franc used by west and central African states is considered by
   many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies,
   and the main reason for the underdevelopment of CEMAC, which remains
   the poorest economic bloc in Africa.

   Louis Nsonkeng, a researcher and economic lecturer at the University of
   Bamenda-Cameroon, says when the Eco becomes legal tender, the eight
   West African states will have their financial freedom from the strong
   grip of former colonial master France. He says the six central African
   states that also use the CFA franc should immediately emulate the
   example of the west Africans.

   "In 2017, the International Monetary Fund published the [list of] 10
   richest countries in Africa," Nsonkeng said. "None of the countries was
   from the CFA zone and most of these countries have their own
   currencies. If we discover that we don't have the resources to manage a
   common currency, then we should dissolve the currency area. We should
   dissolve it and each country should decide on their own currency."

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