Is France breaking with its colonial past in Africa? | Inside Story

Eight West African countries will soon be using a new currency.
And it may well be that you didn’t even know they had an old one!
But for 75 years, the CFA as it would be said in French, has been used as money from Senegal to Niger and most places in between.
But now, the French government’s officially approved the end of the CFA Franc.
It 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, macro-economic policy analyst and consultant to the ECOWAS Commission.
Marie-Roger Biloa, a West Africa analyst and Chief Exective Director of the Africa International Media Group.
Tony Chafer, Professor of African and French Studies at the University of Portsmouth.

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In This Story: France

France is a republic and the largest Western European nation. Through expansion and colonisation in the 17th and 18th centuries France became a great power and still retains territories around the world. It has a seat on the UN security council and is the world’s fourth most wealthy country with a high standard of living and strong cultural identity.

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Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara Desert. The country’s predominantly Muslim population of about 22 million live mostly in clusters in the far south and west of the country. The capital and largest city is Niamey, located in Niger’s southwest corner.

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Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest.

Like other post-colonial African states, the country includes a wide mix of ethnic and linguistic communities, with the largest being the Wolof, Fula, and Serer people, and the Wolof and French languages acting as lingua francas.

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