West African CFA franc

West African CFA franc

franc CFA BCEAO (French)
Current coins of the West African CFA franc
ISO 4217
Code	XOF (numeric: 952)
Unit
Symbol	F.CFA‎
Nickname	céfa, franc
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	centime theoretical (unused)
Symbol
centime	c
Banknotes	500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 francs
Coins	1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 250, 500 francs
Demographics
User(s)	Benin  Burkina Faso  Côte d'Ivoire  Guinea-Bissau  Mali  Niger  Senegal  Togo
Issuance
Central bank	Central Bank of West African States
Website	www.bceao.int
Valuation
Pegged with	Euro (€) = F.CFA 655.957

The West African CFA franc (French: franc CFA or simply franc, ISO 4217 code: XOF; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the currency used by eight independent states in West Africa which make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA; Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. These eight countries had a combined population of 105.7 million people in 2014,^[1] and a combined GDP of US$128.6 billion as of 2018.^{[update][citation needed]}

The initialism CFA stands for Communauté Financière Africaine ('African Financial Community').^[2] The currency is issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO; Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), located in Dakar, Senegal, for the members of the UEMOA. The franc is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes but no coins or banknotes denominated in centimes have ever been issued. The production of CFA franc notes has been carried out at Chamalières by the Bank of France since its creation in 1945.

The Central African CFA franc is of equal value to the West African CFA franc, and is in circulation in several central African states. They are both commonly referred to as the CFA franc.

In December 2019 it was announced that the West African CFA franc would be reformed, which will include renaming it the eco and reducing France's role in the currency.^[3][4] The broader Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which the members of UEMOA are also members, plans to introduce its own common currency for its member states by 2027, for which the name eco has also been formally adopted.^[5][6]