ECOSOC’S Fruitful debate upon the CFA Franc Monetary Union
Sever Rascu-Pistol, reporter for Fox News
12 March 2022
Today, delegates in ECOSOC have held several rounds of talks regarding the controversial CFA Franc Monetary Union – an economic agreement between France and several former French colonies, whereby the latter adopt a currency pegged to the Euro. There have been a plethora of diverging views by African and European countries regarding the topic, providing for a lively back-and-forth between the two – all while Asia and America plan their next moves. The Republic of Ghana said they support a currently-in-planning proposal by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): a new pan-West African currency, the ECO. Italy also expressed itself as being in support of the ECO proposal and in fact wished to speed up the process of implementing it, with Libya and China also expressing support for the new currency.
The delegate of China said that the existing Franc does not make a very reliable currency, from their point of view, due to its inherent links to the stability of Europe and the EU. China claims to have the interests of African states in mind in supporting this proposal, a statement which is backed up by the fact that China had and still has a large stake in Africa’s long-term success – especially given their billions of dollars in investment there. In response to this, Italy stated their desire to fast-forward the establishment of the ECO, with Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire being nominated to spearhead the process – perhaps to avoid Chinese influence in the new currency.
The Republic of Senegal initially contradicted the above in stating their belief that the CFA Franc, used in several west and central African nations, has helped Africa develop and benefit from what they claim is a more stable currency. Despite this, later in the committee session and in response to Italy’s proposal, Senegal radically changed stance and announced that they prefer the ECO proposal despite the stability of the CFA and are willing to take up the mantle of helping its establishment. Senegal also proposed the establishment of a shared virtual currency as a starting point for the project, though this appears to lack support.
The French Republic had a fiery disagreement regarding the ECO proposal with China, in large part due to their strongly conflicting interests – each state likely sees their influence in the region as being threatened by the other, and in doing so is inclined to work against the other’s proposal. Some argue that the French Republic is against the proposal due to their desire to exploit West African states for their own benefit, while others point to the Chinese-backed proposal as being just the first step in Chinese dominion over Africa.
Watching from the sidelines, the international community keeps a keen interest in the developments resulting from this committee. Trade with West Africa, and with it the prices of many commodities produced there, may be impacted depending on which currency prevails. At any rate, the obvious instability and disagreements paints the picture of a volatile market situation in the short term – we can only hope for a quick resolution.
