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Economic organisations of French-speaking Africa: currency, finance, law

Economic organisations of French-speaking Africa: eight families

The economic organisations of French-speaking Africa include monetary unions, central banks, development banks, financial markets, supervisory bodies, institutions for business law and insurance, and wider regional groupings. Each family has a specific function, from issuing currency to trade integration.

Map of French-speaking Africa: countries where French is an official or widely used language

Currency, central banks and development banks

Monetary and economic unions

The West African Monetary Union (WAMU) brings together eight states around the West African CFA franc, the XOF. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), created in 1994, rests on a separate treaty that organises the common market and the sectoral policies of the same eight states.

In Central Africa, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) comprises six states. It rests on an economic union, the UEAC, and a monetary union, the UMAC, which shares the Central African CFA franc, the XAF.

Central banks

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) has its headquarters in Dakar and issues the XOF for the WAMU. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) is based in Yaoundé and issues the XAF. The two currencies are separate and pegged to the euro at a fixed rate, namely 655.957 CFA francs to one euro, a value published by the BCEAO.

Development banks

The West African Development Bank (BOAD), based in Lomé, finances development projects in the WAMU states. The Development Bank of the Central African States (BDEAC), established in Brazzaville, plays the same role for CEMAC. The African Development Bank (AfDB), whose headquarters are in Abidjan, operates across the whole continent.

Finance, supervision, law and insurance

Financial markets and banking supervision

The Regional Securities Exchange (BRVM) is the common stock exchange of the WAMU states, overseen by the Financial Markets Authority of the WAMU, the AMF-UMOA. In Central Africa, the Central African Securities Exchange (BVMAC) is placed under the supervision of the Financial Market Supervisory Commission of Central Africa, the COSUMAF.

Banking supervision falls to two regional bodies: the Banking Commission of the WAMU for West Africa and the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) for CEMAC.

Business law and insurance

The Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) has seventeen states and applies uniform acts in company law, security interests and collective proceedings. The Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA) imposes a common insurance code on its member states.

Wider regional groupings

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) brings together West Africa apart from the three states of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the confederation of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which left ECOWAS in January 2025 while remaining members of WAEMU. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) covers a wider Central Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) goes beyond the French-speaking framework: this continental agreement aims at a single market for goods and services among the African states that have ratified it. The French-speaking organisations fit into it as regional relays, with their own rules for currency, finance and business law.

Organisations by zone

West African zone (XOF)

Central African zone (XAF)

Common organisations

West African groupings