2021/07/27 CFA Franc to Euro 656: 1
There are two types of African francs. There are mainly West African francs circulating in 8 countries and Central African francs circulating in 6 countries. This is the single currency used by most of the 55 countries in Africa. It is called FCFA, and it is called CFA. Except for Guinea-Bissau, which was a former Portuguese colony, the other 13 countries were once French colonies. People travelling to these 14 countries should carry Euros instead of U.S. dollars to avoid double exchange losses.
The West African Franc is currently circulating in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
The Central African Franc is the official currency of the six countries of Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
When France was governing Africa, it began to issue African francs in 1903 and continued after the war in 1945. In 1960, the exchange rate was set at 1 franc to 50 African francs.
In 1994, the West African CFA franc doubled in value and became 1 franc to 100 West African francs. The two currencies were linked and the exchange rate was fixed, just like the Hong Kong dollar against the U.S. dollar.
After France entered the Eurozone on New Year's Day in 1999 at 6.55957 francs to one euro, the African franc continued to be pegged to the euro. From the above formula, one euro was converted to 656 West African francs, not counting decimal points.
The West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc cannot be used mutually, but they are also linked to the euro, the exchange rate is the same, and the monetary policy and operation are the same.
In recent years, West African English-speaking countries such as Nigeria have advocated the establishment of a common currency ECO (Eco) in West Africa based on the spirit of the ECOWA (Economic Community of West Africa). In the past ten years, it has been promoted by Ivory Coast, a French-speaking country in West Africa, together with France.
Due to political disputes and uneven currency issuance conditions among member states, the ECO has not yet been realized.
This article does not discuss Congolese Francs and Djiboutian Francs.
The West African Franc 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000, and 500 banknotes have a sawtooth shark, which is very special.