Editing CFA franc (section)

=== Criticism and replacement in West Africa ===
The currency has been criticized for making national monetary policy for the developing countries of French West Africa all but impossible, since the CFA's value is pegged to the euro (whose monetary policy is set by the [[European Central Bank]]).<ref name="AS" /> Others disagree and argue that the CFA "helps stabilize the national currencies of Franc Zone member-countries and greatly facilitates the flow of exports and imports between France and the member-countries".<ref name="EI" /> The [[European Union]]'s 2008 assessment of the CFA's link to the euro noted that "benefits from economic integration within each of the two monetary unions of the CFA franc zone, and even more so between them, remained remarkably low" but that "the peg to the [[French franc]] and, since 1999, to the euro as exchange rate anchor is usually found to have had favourable effects in the region in terms of macroeconomic stability".<ref>[[doi:10.2765/18982|The role of the euro in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the CFA franc zone, Economic papers 347, November 2008]]</ref>

Critics point out that the currency is controlled by the French treasury, and in turn African countries channel more money to France than they receive in aid and have no sovereignty over their monetary policies.<ref name="2020_nzaou_kongo" /> In January 2019, Italian ministers accused France of impoverishing Africa through the CFA franc, and criticism continued from various African organizations. On 21 December 2019, President [[Alassane Ouattara]] of the [[Ivory Coast]] and President [[Emmanuel Macron]] of France announced an initiative to replace the West African CFA Franc with the [[Eco (currency)|Eco]]. Subsequently, a reform of the West African CFA franc was initiated. In May 2020, the French National Assembly agreed to end the French engagement in the West African CFA franc. The countries using the currency will no longer have to deposit half of their foreign exchange reserves with the French Treasury.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/05/21/france-ratifies-law-officially-ending-75-years-of-west-africa-cfa|title=France ratifies law officially ending 75 years of West Africa CFA|date=2020-05-21|language=en-GB}}</ref> In December 2024, in a report adopted by the French Foreign Affairs Committee, it was published that the reform of the CFA franc in 2019 had been incomplete, largely due to the reluctance of African heads of state to complete it.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Voir l'Afrique dans tous ses États |work=Senat.fr |url=https://www.senat.fr/rap/r24-288/r24-288-syn.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi9mYjh5LuLAxWGKvsDHWKGJeIQFnoECCcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0SAogJuRI4pypo8w77_mzk}}</ref>

In November 2024, the 'Tournons la Page' network and the Sciences Po Center for International Research (CERI) published a survey on relations between West African and Central African countries from former French possessions. Nearly 95% of West Africans surveyed expressed their desire to leave.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Le rejet de la France en Afrique davantage le fruit de ses politiques que de la désinformation, selon un rapport |work=Senat.fr |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20241109-le-rejet-de-la-france-en-afrique-davantage-le-fruit-de-ses-politiques-que-de-la-d%C3%A9sinformation-selon-un-rapport}}</ref>

The broader [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS), which includes the members of UEMOA, plans to introduce its own common currency for its member states by 2027, for which they have also formally adopted the name [[Eco (currency)|Eco]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=West Africa: ECOWAS Heads of State Name Single Currency ECO |work=AllAfrica |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201907010044.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=West Africa regional bloc adopts new plans to launch ECO single currency in 2027 |work=REUTERS |url=https://jp.reuters.com/article/ozatp-uk-westafrica-summit-currency-idAFKCN2DW060-OZATP}}</ref>