Saturday eight West African countries have agreed to change the name of their common currency the "CFA franc" on "Echo," thus severing the last ties with the former colonial overlord France.
the CFA franc was originally pegged to the French franc and was associated with euros for about two decades.
currently that currency are Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, côte d'Yvoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. All countries are former French colonies except Guinea-Bissau.
the announcement of the change of currency was made on Saturday during the visit of the President of France Emmanuel Makron in côte d'Yvoire, the world's largest cocoa producer and former principal colonies of France in West Africa.
President of côte d'ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, speaking in the economic capital, Abidjan, has announced "three major changes." It would be the "name change" currency, he said.
macron called it a "historic reform", adding: "Eco will be released in 2020."
the Value of the CFA franc tied to the Euro since its introduction two decades ago at a fixed rate 655,96 CFA franc for one Euro.
With the introduction of the CFA franc in 1945, the CFA acronym formed from the initial letters of words of French colonies Francaises d'afrique (French African colonies), with the conquest of the former colonies independence in the 2nd half of the 60-ies it was decrypted as la Communauté financière africaine (African financial community).
