Archiv: Central African Republic (CAR)


31.08.2023 - 18:39 [ Internationaler Währungsfonds / International Monetary Fund ]

What is the CFA franc zone?

The CFA franc zone consists of 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, each affiliated with one of two monetary unions. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union, or WAEMU, founded in 1994 to build on the foundation of the West African Monetary Union, founded in 1973. The remaining six countries — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon — comprise the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, or CAEMC.

These two unions maintain the same currency, the CFA franc, which stands for Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) within WAEMU and Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale (Financial Cooperation in Central Africa) within CAEMC. WAEMU and CAEMC account for 14 percent of Africa’s population and 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

01.06.2019 - 06:22 [ Wikipedia ]

CFA franc

The currency has been criticized for making economic planning for the developing countries of French West Africa all but impossible since the CFA‘s value is pegged to the euro (whose monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank).[3] Others disagree and argue that the CFA „helps stabilize the national currencies of Franc Zone member-countries and greatly facilitates the flow of exports and imports between France and the member-countries“.[4] The European Union‘s own assessment of the CFA‘s link to the euro, carried out in 2008, noted that „benefits from economic integration within each of the two monetary unions of the CFA franc zone, and even more so between them, remained remarkably low“ but that „the peg to the French franc and, since 1999, to the euro as exchange rate anchor is usually found to have had favourable effects in the region in terms of macroeconomic stability“

01.06.2019 - 06:20 [ Spiked ]

French colonialism lives on in Africa

CFA franc. These two words probably do not mean much to most readers, but they encapsulate one of the world’s most enduring – and little-known – economic experiments. In the simplest possible terms, the CFA franc is a currency used by 14 countries of Western and Central Africa, all of which are former French colonies.

14.12.2018 - 02:57 [ Reuters ]

Russia, China abstain on U.N. Central Africa vote, unhappy with France

Earlier on Thursday the Trump administration unveiled its strategy for Africa, which national security adviser John Bolton said aimed to counter economic and political influence of China and Russia on the continent.

12.12.2018 - 01:48 [ Reuters ]

France gives weapons to Central Africa, favors end to embargo

France on Tuesday delivered hundreds of assault weapons to Central African Republic (CAR) to fight the growing influence of armed groups in its former colony and said it had no objections in principle to lifting a U.N. arms embargo on the country.