The Role of the Euro in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the CFA Franc Zone

Abstract:

The paper analyses different aspects of the role that the euro is currently playing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and in the CFA franc zone of West and Central Africa. As similar contributions on the role of the euro in other global regions, the paper served as background information for the analysis in European Commission (2008) on the international role of the euro for the assessment of 10 years of European Economic and Monetary Union (“EMU@10”). Chapter 1 of this paper examines the role of the euro as an international currency in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chapter 2 assesses the effects that the CFA franc’s peg to the euro had on macroeconomic stability, trade integration and international competitiveness of the CFA franc zone. Chapter 3 looks at how the EU’s multilateral surveillance framework served as a blueprint for multilateral surveillance in the CFA franc zone. Chapter 4 summarises and concludes.

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