France à fric : the CFA Zone in Africa and neocolonialism
Abstract
Over 50 years after 1960’s ‘Year of Africa’, most of Francophone Africa continues to be embedded in a set of associations that fit very well with Kwame Nkrumah’s description of neocolonialism, where postcolonial states are de jure independent but in reality constrained through their economic systems so that policy is directed from outside. This article scrutinises the functioning of the Communauté Financière Africaine (CFA), considering the role the currency has in persistent underdevelopment in most of Francophone Africa. In doing so, the article identifies the CFA as the most blatant example of functioning neocolonialism in Africa today and a critical device that promotes dependency in large parts of the continent. Mainstream analyses of the technical aspects of the CFA have generally focused on the exchange rate and other related matters. However, while important, the real importance of the CFA franc should not be seen as purely economic, but also political.
Citation
Taylor , I 2019 , ' France à fric : the CFA Zone in Africa and neocolonialism ' , Third World Quarterly , vol. Latest Articles . https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1585183
Publication
Third World Quarterly
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0143-6597Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2019 Global South Ltd. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1585183
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.