French Council of Ministers has signed the bill to end the use of Communauté financière d’Afrique – CFA franc currency in francophone West Africa. The spokeswoman for the French Government, Sibeth Ndiaye announced this last Wednesday.
The bill will terminate the control of the French Treasury over the foreign exchange reserves of these countries.
Eight West African Francophone countries using the CFA will now switch to using the proposed Eco, a common currency. Eco is a new currency proposed to be used in all of West Africa, though a few countries disagree.
The ECOWAS community had previously proposed the use of Eco for the region since 2000 and reviewed it in 2019. French President Emmanuel Macron and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara then announced a reform of monetary cooperation that will end the CFA franc.
Two countries in West Africa, Ghana and Nigeria query the use of the Eco currency on different grounds. Ghana’s president Nana Akufo Adoo wants independence for Eco currency, and Nigeria fears that Naira will lose its title as Africa’s giant currency.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) supports the end of CFA-Francs and the use of Eco as a common currency throughout West Africa.
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