By Olivier RogezPosted on 04-08-2019Modified on 04-08-2019 at 16:06

In theory, the new ECOWAS currency, called eco, is due to come into circulation in 2020. But this is not to mention the difficulties inherent in its implementation, and also the reluctance of some WAEMU countries to abandon the franc. CFA. Analysis.

The future of the franc zone is no longer a taboo subject in West Africa, where opinions and economists are now publicly debating its future. This was not always the case.

► Also to listen : [African debate] The CFA franc, handicap or opportunity?

In the wake of the year 1994, which saw Paris impose unilaterally, and under the joint pressure of the IMF and the World Bank, a devaluation of the CFA franc (it lost half of its value), the word devaluation is long remained taboo. As for the question of the future of the franc zone, it was only addressed in the limited circles of African economists and Africanists in Paris. But in recent years, West African views have changed the situation, at the same time that ECOWAS is reviving its old monetary project dating back to the 1980s.

Because what was only a distant prospect became a hot topic at the end of 2017, during the ECOWAS Summit in Abuja. The final communiqué of the summit states: " The Heads of State and Government reiterated their firm commitment to work towards the objectives of the Founding Fathers of ECOWAS to provide the region with a monetary union with a view to accelerating building an area of ​​prosperity and solidarity. In this regard, they urged the Member States to take the necessary measures to meet the main convergence criteria necessary for the establishment of a viable and credible monetary union. The task force set up to define the mechanisms and modalities of this future currency is requested to speed up the pace, which it has been doing since then, until the adoption in early July, the name of the currency - this will be the eco - and its exchange rate, which will be flexible.

Paris defends itself

Meanwhile, in France, a soothing speech is born. Officials and institutions such as the Banque de France are struggling to respond to the arguments of some of the African public who tax the CFA franc "colonial tax". They recall that the operation account of the French Treasury, which houses half of the foreign exchange reserves of the eight WAEMU countries , is only a common pot that serves to guarantee the convertibility of the franc, and in no case a drain on the wealth of the countries concerned.

The demonstration may be easy - this account weighs only a few billion euros, it is remunerated, and remains available to their owners, namely the WAEMU countries - it can not convince everyone . Because the CFA is above all a political affair, especially for new generations. It is " a survival of the past colonialist relent ", argue the supporters of the disappearance of the CFA, a survival that no longer needs to be at a time when Africa is advancing forcibly towards its economic integration, plead -they.

The debates are so passionate that some actors sometimes lose their coolness and diplomatic restraint. Thus, last July, answering the questions of the journalists of Radio Omega in Ouagadougou, the ambassador of France in Burkina Faso, Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes, was carried away: " France does not earn money with the CFA. The day when there will be no more CFA, you will stop to tell anything about the subject, and to accuse us of all the evils! We will stop fantasizing! "

Criticizing the CFA franc since some Parisian administrative posts is sometimes risky. In January 2019, an incident made a lot of ink. Togolese economist Kako Nubukpo , whose positions are hostile to the currency of WAEMU, is suspended from his position as Director of the Francophonie Economic and Digital at the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), officially for his " incapacity "To have failed to respect" his right of reserve ". He had just published an incendiary tribune in Le Monde Afrique .

The French Presidency, for its part, adopts a much more conciliatory public discourse while recalling its attachment to the franc zone. In mid-July, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a calm debate on the issue . For him, the CFA franc is " a subject that we must be able to open and that we have decided to open together with our African partners, in a peaceful way, without symbol worship, without taboos or totems ". He responded to the Ghanaian president, Nana Akufo-Ado, who considered necessary transformations in " the monetary arrangement of these countries " (with France, Ed).

Ivorian ambiguities

But this position does not reflect the harshness of the debate that is going on behind the scenes. It can be measured through the ambiguities of some leaders like the Ivorian Alassane Ouattara. While the ECOWAS decided that the eco would benefit from a flexible exchange rate, compared to a basket of currencies, the Ivorian president affirmed the opposite at the end of the last WAEMU summit , on July 12th. .

For Alassane Ouattara, the fixed exchange rate between the CFA franc and the euro has " proven " to bring stability and reduce inflation. " It must be maintained. In the words of the Ivorian head of state, it is clear that the CFA zone could become the hard core of the future West African monetary zone. The CFA would then be renamed eco and would maintain its fixed parity with the euro "immediately", that is to say as long as the zone would not be extended to other countries.

► To listen also : With the eco, "West Africa will suffer from the difficulties of Nigeria"

Alassane Ouattara advances all the more easily its arguments that the ECOWAS, recognizing that the convergence of the economies of the region is still insufficient, recommends henceforth a "graduated" approach. Which is to start the eco with a small number of countries. Probably to the exclusion of Nigeria.

The fact remains that a simple sleight-of-hand game of renaming the CFA franc will probably not be enough for some of the public opinion of the countries concerned, who are determined to see a paradigm shift. The technical and economic arguments, however valid, will always be weaker, in the eyes of a fringe of opinion, than political slogans.

    On the same subject

    New currency: "West Africa will suffer from Nigeria's difficulties"

    The CFA franc beyond the controversy

    CFA Franc: Kako Nubukpo Responds to President Ouattara

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