42 sats \ 6 replies \ @siggy47 OP 15 Jun \ parent \ on: Don’t Tell the French — But They’re Americans Now news
The CFA is a real neo colonial nightmare. I still can't believe they got away with it for so long.
I used to believe this but changed my mind.
The reality is that no African country is forced to use the CFA, they do it by choice, like El Salvador or Argentina with the USD. As a matter of fact, many ditched the CFA after gaining their independence (Tunisia, Algeria, Mali, temporarily, etc) some other country that were not even French colonies, voluntarily joined the monetary union. The truth is that African native currencies suck. Look at Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, DRC, and of course, Zimbabwe! Our leaders know this, and they know the CFA gives them a relative immunity against the inflation you see elsewhere.
Besides, most African activists who campaign against the CFA are communists, Russian useful idiots.
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Thanks for this perspective. I have no on the ground experience. Most of what I know has been from reading Alex Gladstein.
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Alex has very informative and thoughtful articles on the subject, and unlike most people on the ground who dream of a panafrican currency to replace the CFA (basically repeating the mistakes of the euro), he rightfully sees bitcoin as the only alternative. The central African Republic gave us hope, but they turned out to be scammers.
You see, most of the problems on the continent are home made, and not related to France, on the contrary! At least France left relatively prosperous and well functioning countries. We've squandered all that heritage. The problem i see with blaming France is that we forget about this important fact.
I'm not saying the CFA is perfect, it's not, but the alternative can only be bitcoin.
Thanks siggy.
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They could, but it might lead to war and other violence. I think a lot of African government officials profit from the CFA too. It's an entrenched, corrupt bureaucracy
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