Losing currency? The shifting landscape of the CFA franc zones

In light of proposed reforms to the West African Communauté Financiere Africaine (CFA) franc, as jointly announced by the French and Ivorian Presidents in December 2019, this article considers the changing economic and political backdrop of this post-colonial arrangement. It describes the factors that led to its creation and the elements that have enabled it to endure for over half a century, in contrast to non-Francophone Africa, where monetary links to the former colonial power were quickly severed after independence. It is argued that some of the benefits of the CFA arrangement have receded over time, while the arguments against it have not, both from an economic and a political perspective. Despite these reforms, there is considerable uncertainty and a lack of consensus over possible alternatives to the current CFA franc arrangement, and as a consequence the future monetary geography of West and Central Africa remains unclear.