History The franc became the currency of Burundi in 1916, when Belgium occupied the former Germany colony and replaced the German East African rupie with the Belgian Congo franc.

History The franc became the currency of Rwanda in 1916, when Belgium occupied the previously German colony and the Belgian Congo franc replaced the German East African rupie.

Only during the period when Burundi used the Belgian Congo franc were centime coins issued.

The franc was introduced at par with the French franc.

Decolonizing the Franc Zone

The franc is the currency of French Polynesia.

Another devaluation of the CFA franc today might deflate France s debts to the franc zone and boost its African based export industries, but it would worsen the franc zone countries miseries.

Even Switzerland is intervening to weaken the franc.

Since 1945, it has been part of the CFP franc.

But the franc zone countries did not fare nearly so well.

Now he considers it the best currency in the world.

The franc zone s plight is being compounded by distorted and dysfunctional economic and monetary policies.

Swiss Francs by Flickr user Jim (CC BY NC SA 2.0).

In 1999, the Euro was introduced to replace the French franc.

The franc zone is, in fact, an appendage of the French economy.

More appalling is the fact that France guarantees the CFA franc s free convertibility into hard currency, originally on the condition that all 15 Franc Zone countries surrender 100 of their foreign reserves to the French Treasury.

This gap should encourage the franc zone s member countries to reject their relationship with France.

The CFA franc issued by two sub regional central banks (BCEAO and BEAC) are not interchangeable.

It was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro.

On January 1, 2008, the franc was valued at 1,129.40 per US dollar.

It is responsible for Swiss monetary policy and for issuing Swiss franc banknotes.

From the end of World War II until the adoption of the euro, France devalued its own franc 14 times in order to bolster competiveness and exports, with the CFA franc devalued along with it each time.

The second way implies a thorough overhaul of the system. This would entail pegging the CFA franc not only to the euro, but also to a basket of other currencies, abolishing the fixed exchange rate and the CFA franc s convertibility, and fast tracking economic integration.

In addition to corruption of all trade by the extorting presence of Commandant Jérôme and other Ituri armed group leaders, their overall destabilizing effect has depressed the value of the Congolese franc to the point where the currency will not be accepted as an instrument of payment outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But France s woes are also being felt far beyond its borders, sparking rumors of a possible devaluation of the CFA franc, the common currency of the franc zone, which comprises 14 African countries and the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean.

France may not like it, but the best interests of the franc zone s citizens should come first.

Guild of Service

Seychelles

The CFA franc was sharply devalued in 1994, and outstanding debts were reduced.

There is no easy answer. But it is time for the franc zone s two leading regional groupings the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community to begin playing a decisive role in overhauling the franc zone s architecture.

On the monetary front, the CFA Franc Zone s member countries dismantled the federal structure that united them during French occupation and erected trade barriers instead. The CFA franc issued by two sub regional central banks (BCEAO and BEAC) are not interchangeable.

Thereafter, it forms the boundary between the DRC and the Republic of Congo until it empties into the Congo River.

Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUC

It is time for franc zone leaders to break the cycle and chart effective national development strategies for their countries.

Photographer Kelly Fajack's image of school kids in Burundi was used on the back of the Burundian 10,000 franc note.

Coordinators DRC

Guinea

Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples

On May 29, 1885, the king named his new colony the Congo Free State.

Right to food (The) (resolution 2005 18) 70

In the late summer of 1931, the dollar, alongside the French franc, appeared to be the strongest currency in the international system.

The Swiss franc has increased more than 40 against the dollar and therefore more than 30 against the renminbi.

First, franc zone countries could issue their own currencies a radical approach that would face serious obstacles.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi