President Macron is hoodwinking West Africa and using the Eco to maintain France’s influence on the continent. His intentions can be exposed easily if you are wide awake to western machinations.
The Eco is a proposed currency that was initiated in 2000 by five countries who signed the ‘Accra Declaration’ in Ghana. These five countries were Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Liberia would later join in 2010. Notice the glaring absence of any West African CFA zone Member State. These 5 ‘Founding’ member States formed the West African Monetary Zone; the second monetary zone in West Africa after the CFA zone.
They set up the West African Monetary Institute with the mandate “To undertake technical preparations for the establishment of a common West African Central Bank and the launching of a single currency for the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ/Zone).” Notice that the currency is for the WAMZ not the CFA zone.
Fast forward to December 21, 2019 (six months after ECOWAS officially adopted the name ‘Eco’ for the single currency) the same day that ECOWAS Member States are meeting in Abuja, Ivory Coast President unilaterally announces the introduction of the Eco with French President Macron in Abidjan. How did an Anglophone-proposed single currency all of a sudden transform into a Francophone-led currency? Pay close attention, the devil is always in the details. Let’s get to the root of the matter.
Western hegemony is waning in Africa. According to 2019 EY (formerly Ernst and Young) ‘Africa attractiveness Report’ the U.S, France and U.K each had 463, 329 and 286 investment projects in Africa in 2018 respectively. China had 259 investment projects. But look at the capital values of the projects; USA ($30.8 billion), France ($34.1b), U.K ($17.7b), China ($72.2b)! China’s capital outlays are double that of US and France. The job creation data are no different; USA (62,000 jobs created), France (57,000), U.K (40,000) and China (137,000). Furthermore, there is a growing anti-French sentiment among West African Francophone countries. In fact, Macron has spoken about it numerously. He even summoned some of these Francophone Presidents to explain to him this growing anti-French sentiment in their respective countries.
Francophone countries are calling for the end to the CFA franc arrangement as they see it as a vestige of the colonial era. France is losing its ‘soft’ power in Africa. Macron, cleverly, devises a scheme that allows him to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to , cosmetically, make it appear that France is severing monetary ties with the CFA zone.
The West African CFA zone, under the Eco, no longer has to keep their reserves with the French treasury; French officials will be withdrawn from the board of the West African Central Bank etc. But he leaves in place the single most important colonial tool in the box namely the GUARANTOR status of France for the Eco and Euro convertibility.
Why does he insist France remains the Guarantor for the Eco-Euro peg? It’s very simple. The country that guarantees the convertibility of the Eco into Euros holds the Eco zone by the ‘balls’. France could always threaten to rescind its guarantee if the Eco zone countries enact policies that go against French interests. It is France’s guarantee of convertibility that will shore up investor confidence in the Eco zone.
Nigeria says they don’t want an Eco tied to France or the Euro. Ghana says the same thing. If the countries had any self-respect this would be the time for Nigeria to assume her leadership position. With over 60% of the regions GDP Nigeria could easily cast the dice in favor of the opposing camp of countries. The best option would be for the Eco countries to fix the currency to the price of gold. This will remove the need for any guarantor and possibility of foreign influence. Gold is the most monetary of all commodities and would ensure a stable and reliable Eco currency.
But with the kind of feeble leaders in place I doubt the Eco will live up to its potential.