Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Future prospects for the CFA Franc Zone

  • Africa
  • Published:
Intereconomics

Abstract

The CFA Franc Zone, with 14 member countries in West and Central Africa, is now entering a phase of restructuring. This is clearly indicated by the debates now occurring in the EC, within the French government, in international organizations such as the World Bank and IMF, and in the CFA Franc Zone countries themselves. What have the benefits and drawbacks of the CFA Franc Zone been? What form might future monetary cooperation between Europe and Africa take?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. CFA stands forCommunauté Financière Africaine in the West African countries, and forCoopération Financière en Afrique Centrale in those of Central Africa, whereas the original source of the abbreviation during the colonial era wasFranc des Colonies Françaises d'Afrique. All CFA countries are signatories to the Lomé Convention between ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries and the European Community.

  2. Cf. in particular the following recent literature: Daniel C. Bach: Pour une union monétaire euro-africaine, in: Le Monde, 14th January 1992; James M. Boughton: The CFA Franc zone: currency unit and monetary standard, IMF Working Paper WP/91/133, Washington D.C., December 1991; Robert Kappel: Währungszone Afrika-Europa? Die Zukunftsperspektiven der Franc CFA-Zone in Afrika, Berichte und Analysen Dritte Welt, No. 5, University of Bremen 1993; Cord Jakobeit: Die CFA-Franczone vor dem Ende?, in: Afrika Jahrbuch 1990, Opladen 1990, pp. 71–78; Roger Peltzer: The proposed European Currency Union and the European political union: Stimulus for African unity and regional integration, Conference on European-African relations, unpubl. paper, Ebenhausen, 22nd–27th May 1992; christopher E. Lane and Leila Page: Differences in economic performance between Franc zone and other sub-Saharan countries, ODI Working Paper 43, London 1991; Ibrahim Elbadawi and Nader Majd: Fixed parity of the exchange rate and economic performance in the CFA zone, World Bank Policy Research Working Papers, WPS 830, Washington D.C. 1992; The Courier, No. 117, 1989: “Currency and Banking”.

  3. Rolf Knieper: Nationale Souveränität. Versuch über Ende und Anfang einer Weltordnung, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 43 (our translation).

  4. See Africa Analysis, No. 178, 6th August 1993; Dossier on Franc CFA, in: Jeune Afrique, Nos. 1701–1702, 12th/25th August 1993, pp. 45–57.

  5. See S. Ibi Ajayi: An economic analysis of capital flight from Nigeria, World Bank Policy Research Working Papers, WPS 993, Washington D.C. 1992.

  6. Roger Peltzer, op. cit., The proposed European Currency Union and the European political union: Stimulus for African unity and regional integration, Conference on European-African relations, unpubl. paper, Ebenhausen, 22nd–27th May 1992; p. 6.

  7. Cf. Christopher E. Lane and Leila Page, op. cit.; Differences in economic performance between Franc zone and other sub-Saharan countries, ODI Working Paper 43, London 1991; Ibrahim Elbadawi also Patrick Guillaumont and Sylviane Guillaumont: Le Problème de la parité des francs CFA, CERDI, Clermont-Ferrand 1989.

  8. Cf. Ishrat Husain and John Underwood: The problem of sub-Saharan Africa's debt—and the solutions, in: Ishrat Husain and John Underwoods (eds.): African external finance in the 1990s, Washington D.C. 1991, pp. 24–45.

  9. Cf. Cord Jakobeit, op. cit., Die CFA-Franczone vor dem Ende?, in: Afrika Jahrbuch 1990, Opladen 1990, pp. 76.

  10. Cf. Eva Jespersen: External shocks, adjustment policies and economic and social performance, in: Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Rolph van der Hoeven and Thandika Mkandawire (eds.): Africa's recovery in the 1990s, London 1992, pp. 9–50.

  11. John L. Newman, Raoul Salomon and Philippe de Vreyer: Firms' responses to relative price changes in Côte d'lvoire, World Bank Policy Research and External Affairs Working Papers, WPS 550, Washington D.C. 1990, p. 30.

  12. Cf. Commission of the European Communities: The role of the Commission in supporting structural adjustment in ACP states, Brussels 1992.

  13. Cf. Ali Mansoor: Experiences of economic integration in sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons for a fresh start, in: African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2, Münster & Hamburg 1992, pp. 420–452.

  14. Cf. Faezeh Foroutan: Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa: Past experience and future prospects, Paper presented at World Bank and CEPR conference on new dimensions in regional integration, Washington D.C. 1992.

  15. Cf. Robert Kappel: Delinking Africa? African cooperation perspectives with the European Communities, in: African Development Perspectives Yearbook 2, op. cit. Münster & Hamburg 1992, pp. 344–376.

  16. Cf. Patrick Guillaumont and Sylviane Guillaumont, op. cit., Le Problème de la parité des francs CFA, CERDI, Clermont-Ferrand 1989. p. IV; Shantayanan Devarajan and Jaime de Melo: Membership in the CFA zone: Odyssean journey or Trojan horse?, in: Ajay Chhibber and Stanley Fischer (eds.): Economic reform in sub-Saharan Africa, Washington D.C. 1991, pp. 25–33.

  17. see Commission of the European Communities: La politique de coopération au développement à l'horizon 2000, Brussels, 15th May 1992 (SEC (92) 915 final).

  18. Cf. Rasul Shams: Self-reliance und die internationalen Währungsbeziehungen, in: M. Kushi Khan (ed.): Self-reliance als nationale und kollektive Entwicklungsstrategie, Munich 1980, pp. 287–321; Frances Stewart: Money and South-South cooperation, in: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 9 (1987), No. 4, pp. 1184–1205; Guy Martin: Zone Franc, sous-développement et dépendance en Afrique noire francophone, in: Africa Development, Vol. 12 (1987), No. 1, pp. 55–100.

  19. Cf. Paul Collier: European Monetary Union and “1992”: Opportunities for Africa, in: The World Economy, Vol. 15 (1992), No. 5, p. 634.

  20. Daniel C. Bach. op. cit. Pour une union monétaire euro-africaine, in: Le Monde, 14th January 1992; (our translation).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bremen, Germany

    Robert Kappel

Authors
  1. Robert Kappel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kappel, R. Future prospects for the CFA Franc Zone. Intereconomics 28, 269–278 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02926213

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02926213

Keywords

Search

Navigation