Niger evokes a possible common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali to end “colonization”

The head of the military junta in power in Niger, Abdourahamane Tiani, suggested that the three Sahel countries were considering leaving the CFA franc to no longer be the “cash cow of France”.

An announcement, but without details. The head of the military regime resulting from a coup d’état in Niger spoke on Sunday February 11 of the possible creation of a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali. “Currency is a step out of this colonization”declared Nigerien general Abdourahamane Tiani on Nigerien national television, in reference to the CFA franc and France, a former colonial power.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three former French colonies today led by military regimes grouped within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), “have experts [monétaires] and at the right time we will decide”he continued. “Currency is a sign of sovereignty”continued General Tiani, and the AES States are “engaged in a process of recovery of [leur] total sovereignty. He assures that“there is no longer any question of our States being France’s cash cow”.

Withdrawal from ECOWAS

The Nigerien leader did not give details on the possible circulation of a future currency. This could, within the AES, replace the CFA franc, currently common to the eight member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), including Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. part.

The strong criticism formulated by these three Sahelian countries and their supporters against the CFA franc could also lead them to leave UEMOA. In November, the AES Ministers of Economy and Finance notably recommended the creation of a stabilization fund and an investment bank.

General Tiani’s statement comes two weeks after the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, 15 countries), which they accuse of being exploited by the France. ECOWAS opposed military coups in the three countries and had notably imposed heavy economic sanctions on Mali, before applying them to Niger. In August, it went so far as to threaten military intervention in Niger to restore constitutional order and free the overthrown president Mohamed Bazoum, still in captivity.