Some West African nations that need to decolonize their currency

The CFA Franc has always seen as a vestige of colonialism, but now eight West African countries are aiming to decolonise and start their own currency.

Eight West African countries have proposed to withdraw their currency reserves from the French central bank.

The proposal would look to replace the euro-linked CFA franc with a new common West African currency: eco. The French-regulated CFA franc is currently used by 155 million people across the African continent in 14 West and Central African countries.

The CFA franc is currently used by eight West African nations, but its days could be numbered (Thierry Gouegnon / Reuters)

The CFA was specially created in 1945, after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement, which saw the world usher in a new global monetary system with the US dollar replacing the gold standard. The French-regulated CFA franc was for the French colonies of Africa, it is linked to the euro and its convertibility is guaranteed by France. According to the arrangement, described by analysts as a colonial relic, these African countries had to deposit half of their foreign currency reserves in the French central bank.

Benin’s President Patrice Talon announced last Thursday that the West African Monetary Union wants to take back control of its currency. Eight African countries including Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger and Guinea Bissau have reached an agreement to pull the reserves from France. 

"We all agree on this, unanimously, to end this model," Talon told French media last Thursday.

The move, if it happens, could also have serious implications for the French economy.

Decolonization?

The CFA franc has been the currency used by French colonies since 1945, and despite the subsequent independence of several African nations, it is still in use. The system is seen as one of the last vestiges of colonialism and the CFA franc has always been a target of criticism. 

Talon said that the decision may take time, but it has been adopted at the meeting of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

"The injustice has gone for too long. It is time to discuss issues with France to clarify many things, to allow us to have our monetary sovereignty. We do not have it today,” Chadian President Idris Debby said during a media briefing last Monday.

An agreement was made to introduce a single currency, eco, for the entire region by 2020. 

According to the plan, as a first phase, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, which currently have their own currencies, will launch the eco. Then in the second phase, the eight countries which use the CFA franc will replace their currencies.

The eco first came to the fore in 2003, however, it has been delayed several times. 

Will it be any different this time? 

Nassir M A Doutoum, an Africa Researcher at the Association of Researchers on Africa (AFAM) told TRT World that as part of a decolonisation process, most leaders of African countries have attempted to realise moves like this in the past. Leaders like Sekou Toure, Modibo Keita, Sylvanus Olympio and Thomas Sankara criticised the colonial policy of the CFA, and some of them even stopped using it. 

Doutoum Said: “But somehow, the leaders who tried to give on up on CFA were eliminated or killed. In the past, African countries were not ready to realise it, however, today’s circumstances are different. As of today, the struggle against CFA is not just based on leaders and intellectuals, also most of the African public supports the idea.”

According to Doutoum, France has tried to prevent several NGOs in various African countries that have been protesting CFA and trying to raise awareness about the damage it does to Africans. 

There have already been protests in the past to say no to the CFA and the issue may be gaining even more momentum among the public. Doutoum sees that the developments as a whole may allow this attempt to succeed.

AFAM Researcher Kaan Devecioglu described Talon’s statement during an interview with TRT World as both courageous and divorced from reality as he believes that the statement was mainly political. 

He says that whoever criticises the CFA in the continent gains sympathy and support, but it is just rhetoric. He says every country has to form a consensus, which is no easy task.

How will France’s future in Africa be shaped?

Professor Ahmet Kavas, an African expert, Turkey’s former ambassador to Chad and founder of the Association of Researchers on Africa (AFAM), said: “Even France recognises the independence of the African countries which it colonised in the past, but France still keeps deep political, cultural, economic, and social ties with these countries.” 

In this context, Kavas stated that for Africa’s natural resources to reach markets, France stipulates the CFA (also known as west-middle African franc) be used as the mandatory currency in its previous colonies. He adds that to maintain competitiveness in the international arena and to sustain its current position, France doesn’t want to abandon opportunities provided by its colonies.

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Senegal’s president uses political tools to mask authoritarian tactics

By Maurice Soudieck Dione

Senegal’s president Macky Sall /EPA-EFE

Earlier this year Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, embarked on his second term as president pledging “constructive” dialogue with the opposition.

This followed tense elections in which Sall was accused of preventing some of his main rivals from running.

In principle, political dialogue is essential. But in Senegal it’s often used as a way to manipulate public opinion and provide breathing space for a government under fire for its authoritarian tactics.

Throughout Sall’s tenure it has given cover to multiple encroachments on Senegalese democracy. This includes tampering with the rules of the electoral system, empty promises of dialogue and violations of the rights and freedoms of the opposition and government opponents.

These tactics threaten national cohesion, progress and stability in the country.

Broken promises

On taking office in 2012, President Sall cast aside a charter of structural reforms for national governance, the National Conferences Charter, that he himself had signed.

He also backtracked on his oft-repeated commitment to reduce his term in office from seven to five years.

Then, despite opposition and in a very short timeframe, in March 2016 he organised a constitutional referendum..

But the proposed changes – which would have led to the balance of power being distributed more evenly, thus streamlining the country’s extremely top-heavy political system – failed to generate a strong consensus. In the end, no serious reforms were ever implemented that would temper the president’s political, legal and institutional supremacy over executive and judicial power.

Opposition persecution

As a way to demonstrate his commitment to inclusive government, Sall then launched a national dialogue on May 28 – the day after the referendum. This brought together representatives of the political class, civil society, the private sector, trade unions and religious and traditional leaders. Some members of the opposition took part in good faith.

The talks led to the quick release, through presidential pardon, of Karim Wade, the son and former minister of ex-President Abdoulaye Wade.

But Wade’s release shouldn’t be interpreted as signalling that the dialogue initiative was effective.

A year earlier, Wade had been sentenced to six years in prison for mis-appropriation of funds, by a special anti-corruption court. Established in 1981, and revived by Sall in 2012 after a long period of dormancy, the special court has been heavily criticised.

The UN stated that Wade’s imprisonment was arbitrary and the West African States Community Court of Justice found that constitutionally, as a former minister, he should have been brought before the Senegalese High Court of Justice.

Sall therefore had no choice but to free Wade. But he also clearly took this opportunity to force Wade – a strong contender in the presidential elections – into exile in Qatar.

Khalifa Sall – then mayor of Dakar and another leading opposition contender – was then arrested in 2017 for allegedly embezzling US$3 million in public funds. Critics accused Macky Sall of making up the charges to remove him. Khalifa was released on a presidential pardon last month.

Sall’s government has also continued its authoritarian tactics with systematic bans on opposition protests.

Furthermore, Sall’s promise to institutionalise political dialogue failed to materialise: there was just one round of talks during his first term.

Crisis of confidence

Parliamentary elections, held in July 2017, are seen to have contributed to the crisis facing the country. There were accusations of major irregularities. And after the chaotic elections Sall refused the opposition’s request for a non-partisan Minister of the Interior. The position is meant to be free of party affiliation, as it had been for about 20 years.

Sall then pushed through a reform introducing electoral sponsoring, without consultation. This requires all candidates standing in presidential elections to collect the signatures of at least 1% of the registered voters before being validated. This made it much harder for candidates to run.

Opposition protests were subject to crackdowns and their leaders were arrested.

This new sponsoring law proved to be a boon to the government during the 2019 presidential elections because it limited the number of candidates.

Candidates did not have access to the electoral roll to confirm the validity of their sponsor signatures and thousands of sponsor signatures were invalidated on the false claim that they were not registered to vote. As many as 19 electoral hopefuls had their applications rejected by the Constitutional Council. In the end only five candidates were able to run.

Today national dialogue is at a standstill, and it’s not surprising given the political manoeuvring that undermines it. This presents a worrying future scenario for Senegal.

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