Includes how foreign exchange is managed and implications for U.S. business
Last Published: 7/15/2019

There are no controls on foreign exchange. However, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) will not purchase franc notes taken outside the CFA zone. In 2016, the governors of the central banks of the two CFA franc zones (the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc) explored the potential of allowing the CFA of the WAEMU (comprising 8 West African countries) to be used in the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC, comprising 6 Central African countries) and vice versa to strengthen regional integration. Concerns over terrorism financing and money laundering have slowed this process. The CFA franc is a convertible currency whose exchange rate is pegged to the euro at a ratio of 655.957 CFA francs to one euro.  The 2018 annual average exchange rate of CFA per dollar was 561.10.

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