West African CFA franc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| West African CFA franc franc CFA BCEAO (French) |
|
| ISO 4217 Code | XOF |
|---|---|
| User(s) | Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo |
| Pegged with | euro = CFA655.957 |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | centime |
| Symbol | CFA |
| centime | c |
| Nickname | céfa, franc |
| Coins | CFA 5, CFA10, CFA25, CFA50, CFA100, CFA200 , CFA500 |
| Banknotes | CFA1000, CFA2000, CFA5000, CFA10000 |
| Central bank | Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest |
| Website | www.bceao.int |
The West African CFA franc (XOF) is just known in French as the Franc CFA, where CFA stands for Communauté financière d'Afrique ("Financial Community of Africa"). It is issued by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, i.e. "Central Bank of the West African States"), located in Dakar, Sénégal, for the 8 countries of the UEMOA (Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine, i.e. "West African Economic and Monetary Union"):
 |
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Guinea-Bissau joined 1994.
- Mali withdrew 1961, rejoined 1984.
- Niger
- Sénégal
- Togo
Contents |
[edit] Ranking in the world
| Country | Population | GDP (PPP) | GDP per capita |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Ranking | Value | Ranking | ||
| Benin | 8,439,000 | 90 | 8,747 | 140 | 1036 |
| Burkina Faso | 14,150,000 | 62 | 16,845 | 117 | 1190 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 18,154,000 | 57 | 27,478 | 98 | 1514 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1,586,000 | 149 | 1,167 | 167 | 736 |
| Mali | 13,518,000 | 66 | 14,400 | 125 | 1065 |
| Niger | 13,957,000 | 64 | 10,951 | 132 | 785 |
| Senegal | 11,658,000 | 72 | 20,504 | 109 | 1759 |
| Togo | 6,145,000 | 102 | 9,369 | 137 | 1525 |
| Total | 87,607,000 | 109,461 | 1249 | ||
| Comparable | |||||
| Vietnam | 85,238,000 | 13 | |||
| New Zealand | 101,685 | 58 | |||
- Source: List of countries by population and IMF data from List of countries by GDP (PPP)
[edit] Coins
[edit] Banknotes
In 2004, the 1994 series of West African banknotes were switched for a new series. These new notes have updated security features, and are more modern in design. The switch has also been welcomed because of the perception that the old bills were dirty and disease-ridden (1). Despite this, there are fears that those living in rural regions will not hear of the changeover, and as a result, will lose their savings when the older series notes are demonetarized. As well, the color of the 5,000 CFA bill was changed from blueish to green, which could leave open the possiblility of the illiterate being shortchanged when switching from the old to the new series.
[edit] Future proposals
The anglophone states of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and the Francophone state of Guinea, have formed the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) and will introduce a common currency, the Eco, on 1 December 2009. Liberia is also set to join this monetary zone, and the ultimate goal is to unite the UEMOA and the WAMZ to form a single West African monetary zone.
Mauritania, a former French colony in West Africa, uses the Mauritanian ouguiya and not the CFA franc since 1973.
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[edit] External links
- World coin gallery
- Ronald Wise gallery
- (French) Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) (Official Site of the West African Economic and Monetary Union)
- "The Many Varieties of West African States Banknotes" by Weldon D. Burson
| Currencies named franc or similar | |
|---|---|
| Current | Burundian franc · CFA franc (Central African CFA franc · West African CFA franc) · CFP franc · Comorian franc · Congolese franc · Djiboutian franc · Guinean franc · Liechtenstein frank · Rwandan franc · Swiss franc · UIC franc |
| Defunct | Algerian franc · Belgian franc · Cambodian franc · French Camerounian franc · French franc · Katangan franc · Gold franc · Luxembourgish franc · Malagasy franc · Malian franc · Monegasque franc · Moroccan franc · New Hebrides franc · Réunion franc · Rwanda and Burundi franc · Saar franc · Tunisian franc · Westphalian Frank |
| Hypothetical | US occupation franc |
