West African CFA franc

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West African CFA franc
franc CFA BCEAO (French)
Member countries
Member countries
ISO 4217 Code XOF
User(s) Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Pegged with euro = CFA655.957
Subunit
1/100 centime
Symbol CFA
centime c
Nickname céfa, franc
Coins 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500 francs
Banknotes 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 francs
Central bank Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
Website www.bceao.int

The CFA franc (French: franc CFA or simply franc, ISO 4217 code: XOF) is the currency of eight independent states in west Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Sénégal and Togo. CFA stands for Communauté financière d'Afrique ("Financial Community of Africa"). It is issued by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, "Central Bank of the West African States"), located in Dakar, Sénégal, for the members of the UEMOA (Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine, "West African Economic and Monetary Union"). The franc is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes but no centime denominations have been issued.

The CFA franc also circulates in several central African states, see Central African CFA franc.

Contents

Main article: CFA franc

The CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies in west Africa in 1945, replacing the French West African franc. The west African colonies and territories using the CFA franc were Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey, French Sudan, Mauritania, Niger, Sénégal, Togo and Upper Volta. The currency continued in use when these colonies gained their independence, except in Mali (formerly French Sudan), which replaced at par the CFA franc with its own franc in 1961. In 1973, Mauritania replaced the CFA franc with the ouguiya at a rate of 1 ouguiya = 5 francs. Mali readopted the CFA franc in 1984, at a rate of 1 CFA franc = 2 Malian francs. The former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc in 1994, replacing the Guinea Bissau peso at a rate of 1 CFA franc = 65 pesos.

In 1948, aluminium 1 and 2 francs coins were introduced. These were followed in 1956 by aluminium-bronze 5, 10 and 25 francs. All carried the name Afrique Occidentale Française. In 1957, 10 and 25 francs coins were issued with the name of Togo added. From 1959, coins have been issued by the BCEAO. Nickel 100 francs coins were introduced in 1967, followed by cupro-nickel 50 francs in 1972. Small, steel 1 franc coins were introduced in 1976 (struck until 1995), followed by bimetallic 250 francs in 1992 (struck until 1996). In 2003, bimetallic 200 and 500 francs coins were introduced.

When the CFA franc was introduced, notes issued by the Banque Centrale de les Etats de l'Afrique Occidentale in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 1000 francs were in circulation. 500 francs notes were added in 1946, followed by 5000 francs in 1948. In 1955, the Institut d'Emission de l'A.O.F. et du Togo took over the production of paper money, issuing notes for 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs.

In 1959, the BCEAO took over the issuance of paper money and reintroduced in 5000 francs note. With the exception of a few early issues, the notes of the BCEAO carry a letter to indicate the country of issuance. 50 francs notes were last issued in 1959, with 100 francs not issued since 1965. 10,000 francs notes were introduced in 1977, followed by 2500 francs notes in 1992

In 2004, a new series of notes was introduced in denominations of 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 francs, the 500 francs note having been replaced by a coin in 2003. The new notes have updated security features and are more modern in design. The change has been welcomed because of the perception that the old notes were dirty and disease-ridden (1). Despite this, there are fears that those living in rural regions will not hear of the changeover and, as a result, will lose their savings when the older series notes are demonetarized. The colour of the 5000 francs note was changed from blue to green, which could leave open the possibility of the illiterate being short-changed when switching from the old to the new series.

The Anglophone states of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and the Francophone state of Guinea, have formed the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) and will introduce a common currency, the Eco, on 1 December 2009. Liberia is also set to join this monetary zone, and the ultimate goal is to unite the UEMOA and the WAMZ to form a single West African monetary zone.

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Currencies of Africa
North Algerian dinar · Euro (Plazas de soberanía) · Egyptian pound · Libyan dinar · Mauritanian ouguiya · Moroccan dirham · Sudanese pound · Tunisian dinar
Central Angolan kwanza · Burundian franc · Central African CFA franc (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon) · Congolese franc · Rwandan franc
West Cape Verdean escudo · Euro (Canary Islands, Madeira) · Gambian dalasi · Ghanaian cedi · Guinean franc · Liberian dollar · Nigerian naira · São Tomé and Príncipe dobra · Sierra Leonean leone · West African CFA franc (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo)
East Comorian franc · Djiboutian franc · Eritrean nakfa · Ethiopian birr · Kenyan shilling · Seychellois rupee · Somali shilling · Somaliland shilling (unrecognized) · Tanzanian shilling · Ugandan shilling
South Botswana pula · Euro (Mayotte, Réunion) · Lesotho loti · Malawian kwacha · Malagasy ariary · Mauritian rupee · Mozambican metical · Namibian dollar · Saint Helena pound · South African rand · Swazi lilangeni · Zambian kwacha · Zimbabwean dollar
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