FRANÇAFRIQUE, NEOCOLONIALISM AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COUPS D'ÉTAT IN THE FRANC ZONE (2020-2023)

Abstract

This article examines the instrumentalization of the CFA Franc for France's neocolonial domination in Africa and its future in the current Franco-African political conjuncture, following the series of coups d'état that took place in the Franc Zone between 2020 and 2023. In order to bring clarity to the impacts of the events in question, we turned to historical narratives, starting with the process of decolonization to the unfolding of the complex economic agreements signed between France and its former African colonies. From there, we explored what might have been the origins of the coups, their consequences for the French colonial currency, and we also highlighted the narrative that they constitute an uprising against the economic imperialism of the European power on the African continent. The study articulates anti- and post-colonial theories and methodologies, and develops qualitative analyses.