France's spiral debts: CEMAC catches cold over FCFA!.

By comparison, that of Cameroon is approaching 50 percent, with alarms of debt distress being raised already.

Projections to climb to 125% by 2030, French spiraling debts are causing a scar in the European Union and panic in the CEMAC zone using the FCFA. 

That within CEMAC is understandable, especially given that the countries keep 50 percent of their reserves in the French treasury.

France's attempt  to cut public spending by 44 billion euros  in 2026; by  freezing pensions; higher healthcare costs and the scrapping of two public holidays to generate more economic activity, has met with popular resistance.

Massive crowds attempting to force President Emmanuel Macron and his new Prime Minister to abandon austerity are even worsening the economic situation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "the streets remain a central political actor in France, capable of weakening a barely reconstituted executive. Whereas other democracies see protests wane, France continues to make the streets a forum for decision-making".

With the political impasse, and mounting debts, there is concern in the Euro zone where there are reports that "France's political instability and its failure to tackle ballooning public debts have unnerved investors, who have been demanding a growing premium to lend to the French government in the bond market".

That concern, if not panic, has extended to the CEMAC zone, given that their reserves may not be in a safe vault to guarantee convertibility anymore.

At the macroeconomic level, it is like hearing that a credit union that keeps 50 percent of a person's savings is in debt stress. Basic economic sense will compel the depositor to begin to withdraw.

That is what the six Heads of State of the member countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, did on September 10, 2025; with a decisive step: officially placing the issue of reforming the CFA franc on the agenda.

Returning from the summit in Bangui, the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, confirmed to the national press that the discussions did indeed focus on a "historic reform" of the common currency.

The reform project would be structured around three major pillars: A new name like their West African counterparts who are said to be working on the launch of the "Eco" in 2027.

The designation of the FCFA, often perceived as a symbol of a colonial legacy, could give way to a name embodying sovereignty, unity, and collective ambition.

Until now, the parity between the euro and the CFA Franc (€1 = 655.957 FCFA) was considered untouchable.

Now, the idea of linking the currency to a basket of currencies is on the table. 

Such a development, according to economists, "would enable the Subregion's economies to better absorb external shocks and adapt their monetary policy to their realities".

The plan is also to end the operations account at the French treasury. 

This is undoubtedly the most symbolic and anticipated measure: ending the mechanism that requires the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, to deposit half of its foreign exchange reserves with the French treasury.

The total repatriation of these assets would constitute a decisive turning point towards true monetary sovereignty. This will be observed while transferring full responsibility for financial stability to regional institutions.

The reform of the CFA franc within the CEMAC, if implemented, would mark a historic break with more than 70 years of dependence on France.   

However, economists argue that there are major challenges: strengthening the credibility of regional institutions, ensuring investor confidence, and preserving economic stability in a Subregion regularly confronted with political and security crises and uncertainties.

The coming months will therefore be decisive in measuring the political will of the leaders and the capacity of CEMAC to assume complete monetary sovereignty.

Diplomatic sources have described the plan as "constructive" focusing on the very foundations of the current monetary architecture, inherited from the colonial period.

Analysed through the prism of Joseph Thuindjang Poemi's book, "Money, Servitude, and Freedom", agree that money is much more than a simple instrument of exchange. "It is central to a nation's identity, sovereignty, and development".   

The current CFA franc system, whatever its "benefits", is seen as a vestige of post-colonial monetary servitude "with the three pillars the name, the fixed parity, and the French treasury operations account as manifestations of this servitude".

For The Guardian Post, given the French debt burden, strikes that have toppled a Prime Minister, national resistance to austerity cutting off of cheap imports of raw materials from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger the future of the FCFA is bleak.

It is thus time for CEMAC leaders to address the recurring criticisms surrounding the CFA Franc and respond to the exigencies of their national interests.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3572 of Monday September 22, 2025