Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali ready to abandon the CFA franc for their “total sovereignty”

2024-02-12 11:07:01

Published on February 12, 2024

Lecture : 2 minutes.

Already on the verge of leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger could also abandon the CFA franc. With reference to the common currency and France, former power colonial rule, the head of the Nigerien junta, Abdourahamane Tiani, declared that “currency is a step out of this colonization”, on the evening of February 11, on Nigerien national television.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – three former French colonies now run by military regimes –, grouped within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), “have experts [monétaires] “. “And at the appropriate time, we will decide,” he continued.

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“Currency is a sign of sovereignty”, continued General Tiani, and the AES States are “engaged in a process of recovery of [leur] total sovereignty. He assures that “there is no longer any question of our States being the cash cow of the France ».

To read : Can the Alliance of Sahel States (really) create its own currency?

Towards farewell to UEMOA?

The Nigerien leader did not give details on the possible circulation of a future currency. This could, within the AES, replace the CFA franc, currently common to the eight pays members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), of which Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are part.

To read : What do you (still) have against the CFA franc?

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The strong criticism formulated by these three Sahelian countries and their supporters against the CFA franc could also to drive to leave UEMOA. In November 2023, the AES Ministers of Economy and Finance notably recommended the creation of a stabilization fund and an investment bank.

Departure from ECOWAS

General Tiani’s statement comes two weeks after the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from ECOWAS (effective within one year, according to the statutes of the organization, but “with immediate effect” according to the three juntas), which they accuse of being exploited by France. According to the calculations carried out par Young Africa, in 2019, the absence of the three ECOWAS countries would have caused the GDP of the sub-regional organization to fall by 8.6%.

To read : Without Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the new contours of ECOWAS

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ECOWAS opposed military coups in the three countries and notably imposed of heavy economic sanctions in Mali, before applying them to Niger. In August 2023, it went so far as to threaten military intervention in Niger to restore constitutional order and free ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, always held captive.

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