As African countries achieved restoration or independence during the 20th century, some retained the new denominations that had been introduced, though others renamed their currencies for various reasons. As you can see, there is a complicated history of independent states and their efforts to remain free from colonial rule. While some countries were more successful than others in achieving their goals, today the influence of outside governance is thankfully gone.
In pre-colonial times, many objects were sometimes used as currency in Africa. These included shells, ingots, gold (gold dust and gold coins (the Asante)), arrowheads, iron, salt, cattle, goats, blankets, axes, beads, and many others. During colonial times (roughly from 1680 to 1990) the respective colonial powers introduced their own currencies to their colonies or produced local versions of their currencies. These included the Somali shilling; the Italian East African lira; and the African franc (in Francophone countries).
Many post-colonial governments have retained the name and notional value unit system of their prior colonial era currency. A different trend was seen when the predominant foreign power relationship changed, causing a change in the currency: the East African rupee (from long-term trade with Arabia and India) was replaced by the East African shilling after the British became the predominant power in the region. Other countries threw off the dominant currency of a neighbour: the Botswana pula replaced the South African rand in Botswana in 1976.
Many African countries change their currency's appearance when a new government takes power (often the new head of state will appear on bank notes), though the notional value remains the same. Also, in many African currencies there have been episodes of rampant inflation, resulting in the need for currency revaluation (e.g. the Zimbabwe dollar). In some places there is a thriving street trade by unlicensed street traders in US dollars or other stable currencies, which are seen as a hedge against local inflation. In many rural areas there is still a strong bartering culture, the exchanged items being of more immediate value than official currency (following the principle that one can eat a chicken, but not a coin).
There is a proposal for a monetary union of the entire African continent, which would call for the creation of a new unified currency, similar to the euro. The hypothetical currency is sometimes referred to as the afro or afriq.
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Several decades after their independence, Guinea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and 14 other African countries continue to have their banknotes printed in the UK, while others rely on Germany. According to the available data, given a certain lack of communication in this area, both on the part of States and manufacturers, 17 African countries are listed as having their banknotes printed in the United Kingdom, and more precisely in England.
These countries all have in common that they import their currency from the British company De La Rue, which also manufactures most of that of the United Kingdom and which is one of the world leaders in this field. They are mainly divided between former British and Portuguese colonies, to which are added Guinea, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Libya (which also appeals to Russia). Furthermore, it is worth mentioning the particular case of Somaliland, a territory covering the north-west of Somalia and having proclaimed its independence.
Although not recognized by almost all of the international community, it has nevertheless created its own currency to stand out from Somalia, and has it manufactured by the United Kingdom, which once administered the territory (unlike the rest of Somalia). The use of an external entity may come as a surprise for some of these countries, such as Ethiopia and Tanzania, which have a large population, or Guinea and Rwanda, given certain political discourses.
But the most surprising case is perhaps that of Libya, in view of its very significant financial capacities, far superior to those of the few African countries which produce their own national currency, such as Morocco, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Libya being a major oil producer, of which it has the largest reserves on the continent). A posture which therefore fell more within the framework of a communication strategy organized by the regime, which had not really tried to develop the country and ensure its sovereignty (hydrocarbons representing around 95% of exports ), and which had even often caused trouble in Africa (attempted invasion of Chad, destabilization of Tunisia, etc.).
In addition to the countries previously mentioned, five others are listed as having their banknotes printed in Germany, to which is added Tanzania which also uses the United Kingdom (as well as the United States). These six countries therefore appealing to Germany are: Eritrea, Mauritania, South Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania and Zambia.
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Taking into account the currencies made in countries other than the United Kingdom and Germany, and apart from the specific cases of Somalia and Zimbabwe, which are bankrupt and without real currency, there are therefore 43 African countries in total which have recourse to a foreign country, i.e. 21 countries more than those mentioned above.
Thus, and according to the available data, France prints the currency of 21 African countries in total, namely that of 16 of its former colonies (12 countries of the CFA zone, the Comoros, Madagascar, Djibouti and Tunisia), to which s add Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea (members of the CFA zone, and former Portuguese and Spanish colonies respectively), Burundi (former Belgian colony), and finally Namibia and Zambia, two former British colonies.
Apart from these 43 countries outsourcing the manufacture of their national currency to a foreign entity, nine African countries therefore assume this process themselves, namely Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya and South Africa.
However, and without this having any connection with the local character of the manufacture of money, it should be remembered, to counter certain propaganda, that five of these nine countries are suffering from a strong dollarization of their economy (the Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, the DRC and Kenya), that is to say the significant use of the dollar in internal economic transactions, by refusing the local currency, considered risky.
France’s financial control over the African nations is a relic of a shady past. Only African initiatives imagined and implemented by Africans will pave the way for the continent's awakening.
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In 1962, when Modibo Keita, President of the newly-independent Mali, decided to create the Malian Franc, the immediate result was for his neighbours, themselves freshly independent but members of the CFA Franc zone, to raise commercial barriers and isolate him economically.
Created by France in 1945, the CFA Franc was meant to control the cost of access to raw material from the colonies and to shield France’s pre carre from the other monetary bloc controlled by the UK, the ‘sterling area’.
Unlike its British counterpart, which disappeared by the second half of the twentieth century, the CFA Franc remains to this day the anachronistic currency in place in 14 African countries regardless of their access to independence from France decades ago.
The tremendous advantages offered to France and the strict terms and conditions of the CFA Franc explain why the currency is referred to as a tool of “monetary servitude”, the “invisible tool of Francafrique” (in reference to France’s neocolonialism in Africa) or, in an absolute plain term, the “colonial currency”.
The CFA Franc is in use in three distinct areas, each with its own version of the currency:
- The West African CFA Franc or the African Financial Community Franc, emitted by the Central Bank of West African States and used by Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
- The Central African Franc or the Financial Cooperation in Central Africa Franc, issued by the Bank of Central African States and used in Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
- The Comorian Franc, used by the independent Union of Comoros alone. (valued at 0.0020 euros)
In all cases, the CFA Franc offers France’s guarantee of convertibility, fixed parities (then with the French Franc, today with the euro), free transferability and the centralisation of foreign exchange reserves. In return, the issuance and printing of money are done in France, and the countries using the CFA Franc are obliged to deposit at least 50 percent of their foreign exchange reserves at the French Public Treasury.
Given the vast disparities between African and French economies, the pegging of the region’s currency to a strong currency like the French Franc yesterday and the euro today is unnatural and has direct implications on the economic development of the CFA Franc region: reduction in liquidity when governments need it, penalties in exports, reduced the margin for central banks to intervene, which in turn makes them focused solely on fighting inflation and not economic development, the scarcity of investment money for businesses and households face prohibitive interest rates.
But for France, there are only advantages. The former colonial power maintains its grip on the economies of these countries, when the latter enjoy trade surplus, their foreign currency reserves are stored in French banks which can then use them on international financial markets, French companies have preferred access to local markets, can exploit, extract resources, can freely repatriate their profits back home without fear of foreign exchange fluctuations and even setup show wherever and whenever throughout the CFA Franc area.
Under these conditions, the natural question is how sovereign can a nation be without monetary sovereignty? The answer lies in the evolution of the “fixed” parity since the CFA Franc’s inception and how only four states out of the fifteen that were members of the Franc zone withdrew from the monetary agreements.
The value of the CFA Franc evolved multiple times over the years and only when Paris decided it. For example, in 1945, one French Franc was equal to 0.588 CFA Francs. But though initially “fixed”, this "parity" will change to 1 FRF equalling 0.5 CFA Francs in 1948 and even 0.02 CFA Francs in 1960 when France introduced its New Franc.
But the worst was yet ahead. In 1994, Paris unilaterally decided to review the French Franc to CFA Franc parity. A nightmare for all Africans who saw their presidents and heads of central banks sign the Dakar declaration and agree to Paris's unilateral decision to devalue the CFA Franc to 50 percent of its value at 1 French Franc now equalling 0.01 CFA Francs. The consequences were devastating for the region. Hundreds of millions of households saw their purchasing power collapse with the explosion of costs to import and skyrocketing prices.
Proponents of the CFA France would argue that the currency brings stability to the region. But so far, the region has not prospered, and the single currency between 14 countries did not translate into great exchanges between them.
But if Paris had successfully managed to maintain its monetary grip on former colonies, it wouldn't have been possible without the active collaboration of the French-trained indigenous elites.
Despite decades of poor economic development and scarce opportunities for their people, the current generation of African leaders is, just like their predecessors, still behind the curve. In fact, the decision to “reform” the CFA Franc came from the French President. In 2019, Emmanuel Macron visited Abidjan and declared in the presence of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara: “It was by hearing your youth that I wanted to initiate this reform.” If Macron wanted to tell an African leader that he was irrelevant, he couldn't have done it better.
If the initiative offers new liberties on paper, it only grants partial monetary independence. The “Eco” - the proposed common currency for West African nations - would still be pegged to the euro and the burden it implies. The project is, however, yet to materialise.
From the creation of the CFA Franc, nothing was spared to maintain it. Rejection of the CFA Franc and the idea to give up full monetary sovereignty to France is as old as the currency itself, be it by Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara or Mali’s Modibo Keita, both of whom were assassinated and overthrown and replaced by strongmen aligned with France.
The growing unpopularity of France in Africa and the younger generation's rejection of its presence are no accident. There cannot be a French, American or Chinese solution to Africa's challenges.
The eight countries that renamed their common currency to eco are Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea- Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. All the countries named here were once part of the French colonies except for Guinea- Bissau. These eight countries were having a common currency named ‘CFA franc’ which changed to ‘eco’ on Saturday.
Though the common currencies were changing it was attached or were connected with Euros for at least 2 decades. It almost took more than 6 months to make the change in the currencies of the eight nations and finally in 2020, new common currencies ‘eco’ was introduced in these eight nations. The CFA franc currency was made in the year 1945 and it had a lot of interference by the French government even after they got their independence.
This was announced when the French president visited Ivory Coast which is the highest cocoa producer in the world. Along with the change in the currency, the Ivory Coast president also announced some of the changes that need to be implemented, and the changes are:
- To bring change in the currency name.
- As the French treasure always holds 50% of the total reserve when they had a common currency which was the CFA franc.
Currency is the medium of exchange which is derived from the Latin word currens, -entis that functions as legal tender. It is accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a particular country or socio-economic context which is circulated as banknote and coins.
Africa in the 1960s was a tumultuous region, and the central African state of Katanga is one such example. During the Congo Crisis that began in 1960, numerous regions that used to belong to the Belgian Congo attempted to declare themselves as sovereign states. Katanga was supported by the Belgian government because of the region’s wealth and stability, and its pro-West leader Moise Tshombe wished to keep the natural resources of copper, gold and uranium out of Soviet hands.
Author Owen Linzmayer reveals that initially Rwanda and Burundi notes were overprinted with “Gouvernement Katanga” on both sides. Also, Waterlow & Sons attempted to win over the Katangese government by designing several different notes themselves. Both the overprinted and W&S notes are scarce, but the Katangese francs issues starting on January 9, 1961 are more readily available. The notes were issued in 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 franc denominations on January 9, 1961.
The Nigerian Civil War was one of many conflicts in 1960s Africa relating to independence from colonial rule. The Republic of Biafra was directly involved, as their majority population was the indigenous Igbo people who were persecuted by the Nigerian government and desired both self-governance and control over their oil reserves.
On May 30, 1967, Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the Republic of Biafra’s independence, which was met with embargoes from many nations. Biafra did not go completely unrecognized, as five countries acknowledged its independent status (Tanzania, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia and Haiti). Ojukwu desired for the Nigerian pound to remain as the new nation’s currency, but the Igbo pushed for their own currency.
The resulting banknotes were Biafran pounds, of which the £1 note was issued on January 28, 1968, followed by £5 and £10 notes a month later. According to Peter Symes, formerly of the International Bank Note Society, many Biafran pounds were never delivered to the nation, and as a result the notes that were not destroyed after the war flooded onto the collector market, driving down their value.
In 1965, a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was issued as an attempt for the mostly white Rhodesian government to retain power in spite of two African nationalist movements led by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. Prime Minister Ian Smith rejected the United Kingdom’s mandate to allow majority rule of black citizens, among other equality laws.
Rhodesia was not recognized, despite continuing trade with other nations, something that the United Kingdom attempted to discourage. According to Owen Linzmayer, one of the effects of the UDI related to Rhodesia’s currency, as the nation was formerly a part of the sterling zone since the 1930s.
The Reserve Bank board placed an order of 20 million notes in October 1965 to Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. (BWC). However, Rhodesia declared its independence the following month, and the board was replaced the month after that. As a result, the new board ordered a new series of banknotes from Giesecke & Devrient (G&D). A court case followed, resulting in the destruction of the G&D notes, and the refusal of an export license for the BWC notes. This forced the fledgling government to print their notes themselves without imprint.
List of Africa currencies:
| Country | Capital City | Name of Currency |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | Algiers | Algerian Dinar |
| Angola | Luanda | Angolan Kwanza |
| Benin | Porto-Novo | West African CFA franc |
| Botswana | Gaborone | Pula (BWP) |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou | West African CFA franc |
| Burundi | Bujumbura | Burundi Franc |
| Cameroon | Yaounde | West African CFA francs |
| Cape Verde | Praia | Cape Verdean Escudo |
| Central African Rep. | Bangui | Central African CFA franc |
| Chad | N'Djamena | Central African CFA franc |
| Comoros | Moroni | Comorian franc (KMF) |
| Congo (DRC) | Kinshasa | Congolese Franc (CDF) |
| Cote d'Ivoire | Yamoussoukro | West African CFA franc |
| Djibouti | Djibouti | Djibouti Franc (DJF) |
| Egypt | Cairo | Egyptian pound (EGP) |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | Central African CFA franc |
| Eritrea | Asmara | Nakfa (ERN) |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | Birr (ETB) |
| Gabon | Libreville | Central African CFA franc |
| Gambia | Banjul | Dalasi (GMD) |
| Ghana | Accra | Ghana cedi |
| Guinea | Conakry | Guinea Franc |
| Guinea-Bissau | Bissau | West African CFA franc |
| Kenya | Nairobi | Kenyan shilling |
| Lesotho | Maseru | Lesotho loti |
| Liberia | Monrovia | Liberian Dollar |
| Libya | Tripoli | Libyan Dinar |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo | Malagasy ariary |
| Malawi | Lilongwe | Kwacha |
| Mali | Bamako | West African CFA franc |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott | Ouguiya |
| Mauritius | Mauritius | Mauritian rupee |
| Morocco | Rabat | Moroccan Dirham |
| Mozambique | Maputo | Mozambican metical |
| Namibia | Windhoek | Namibian dollar |
| Niger | Niamey | West African CFA franc |
| Nigeria | Abuja | Naira |
| Rwanda | Kigali | Rwanda Franc |
| Sao Tome & Principe | Sao Tome | Sao Tome Dobra |
| Senegal | Dakar | CFA franc |
| Seychelles | Victoria | Seychellois rupee (SCR) |
| Sierra Leone | Freetown | Sierra Leonean leone (SLL) |
| Somalia | Mogadishu | Somali Shilling |
| South Africa | Pretoria | South African Rand (ZAR) |
| South Sudan | Juba | South Sudanese pound (SSP) |
| Sudan | Khartoum | Sudanese pound (SDG) |
| Swaziland | Mbabane | Lilangeni |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Tanzanian Schilling |
| Togo | Lomé | Central African CFA franc |
| Tunisia | Tunis | Tunisian Dinar |
| Uganda | Kampala | Uganda Shilling |
| Western Sahara | Laayoune | Moroccan Dirham (The majority of the territory of Western Sahara is currently administered by the Kingdom of Morocco.) |
| Zambia | Lusaka | Zambian Kwacha (ZMK) |
| Zimbabwe | Harare | Zimbabwean Dollar (ZWD) |
