1.
Burundi
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It is also considered part of Central Africa. The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika, the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent kingdom, until the beginning of the twentieth century, after the First World War and Germanys defeat, it ceded the territory to Belgium. Both Germans and Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi, despite common misconceptions, Burundi and Rwanda had never been under common rule until the time of European colonisation. The European intervention exacerbated social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, and contributed to political unrest in the region. Bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped, Burundis political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state and head of government, there are currently 21 registered parties in Burundi. On 13 March 1992, Tutsi coup leader Pierre Buyoya established a constitution, six years later, on 6 June 1998, the constitution was changed, broadening National Assemblys seats and making provisions for two vice-presidents. Because of the Arusha Accord, Burundi enacted a government in 2000. In October 2016, Burundi informed the UN of its intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Burundi remains an overwhelmingly rural society, with just 13% of the population living in urban areas in 2013. The population density of around 315 people per kilometre is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin, 15% are Tutsi, the official languages of Burundi are French and Kirundi, although Swahili can be found spoken along the Tanzanian border. One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi has an equatorial climate, Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a plateau in the centre of Africa. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m, lies to the southeast of the capital, there are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest, Ruvubu National Park to the northeast. Both were established in 1982 to conserve wildlife populations, Burundis lands are mostly agricultural or pasture. Settlement by rural populations has led to deforestation, soil erosion, deforestation of the entire country is almost completely due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km2 remaining and an ongoing loss of about 9% per annum. In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, Burundi is densely populated and has had substantial emigration as young people seek opportunities elsewhere
2.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
3.
Franc
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The franc is the name of several currency units. The French franc was the currency of France until the euro was adopted in 1999. The Swiss franc is a world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription francorum rex used on early French coins and until the 18th century, or from the French franc, the countries that use francs include Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and most of Francophone Africa. Before the introduction of the euro, francs were used in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, while Andorra. The franc was used within the French Empires colonies, including Algeria and Cambodia. The franc is sometimes italianised or hispanicised as the franco, for instance in Luccan franco, one franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. It was equivalent to one livre tournois, the French franc was the name of a gold coin issued in France from 1360 until 1380, then a silver coin issued between 1575 and 1641. The franc finally became the currency from 1795 until 1999. Though abolished as a coin by Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and silver écu. The franc was also minted for many of the former French colonies, such as Morocco, Algeria, French West Africa, today, after independence, many of these countries continue to use the franc as their standard denomination. The value of the French franc was locked to the euro at 1 euro =6, fourteen African countries use the franc CFA, originally worth 1.7 French francs and then from 1948,2 francs but after January 1994 worth only 0.01 French franc. Therefore, from January 1999,1 CFA franc is equivalent to €0.00152449, a separate circulates in Frances Pacific territories, worth €0.0084. In 1981, The Comoros established an arrangement with the French government similar to that of the CFA franc, originally,50 Comorian francs were worth 1 French franc. In January 1994, the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to the French franc, since 1999, the currency has been pegged to the euro. The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the wide circulation. Newly unified Italy adopted the lira on a basis in 1862. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, the 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932
4.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
5.
German East African rupie
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The Rupie was the currency of German East Africa between 1890 and 1916, continuing to circulate in the Tanganyika Territory until 1920. The German East Africa Company acquired rights to mint coinage in 1890 and issued rupies which were equivalent to the Indian, the Company retained its coinage rights even after the takeover of German East Africa by the government later in 1890. In 1904 the German government took over currency matters and established the Ostafrikanische Bank, the Rupie was initially equivalent to the Indian rupee. Until 1904, it was subdivided into 64 Pesa, the currency was decimalized on 28 February 1904, with 1 Rupie =100 Heller. At the same time, an exchange rate of 15 Rupien =20 German Mark was established. In 1915 and 1916 in the period of fighting in East Africa during World War I a large series of issues of paper money were issued. 1916 also saw an issue of coins to pay German led troops. Later in 1916 German East Africa was occupied by British and Belgian forces, in Tanganyika, the Rupie circulated alongside the East African rupee until 1920, when both were replaced by the East African florin at par. In Burundi and Rwanda, the Belgian Congolese franc replaced the Rupie in 1916, in 1890, copper 1 Pesa and silver 1 and 2 Rupie coins were introduced, followed the next year by silver ¼ and ½ Rupie and in 1893 by silver 2 Rupien coins. The silver coins were minted to the standard as the Indian rupee. As a consequence of decimalization, bronze ½ and 1 Heller were introduced in 1904, followed by bronze 5 Heller and holed, in 1913, holed, cupro-nickel 5 Heller were introduced. The 1916 issues were minted at Tabora as an emergency coinage. A total of 302,940 brass 5 Heller were issued, in addition, both copper and brass 20 Heller coins were produced, a quantity that allows them to remain readily available for collectors. In addition 16,198 of the gold 15 Rupien mentioned above were produced, while the smaller valued coins were crudely struck, the gold pieces received fine detail. In 1905, the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank introduced notes for 5,10,50, and 100 Rupien, between 1915 and 1917, World War I emergency issue notes were produced in denominations of 1,5,10,20,50 and 200 Rupien. Colonial German East Africa was cut off from Germany resulting from a wartime blockade, silver coinage was hoarded for its intrinsic value in commercial transactions, and the colonial government was pressured into creating interim banknotes. Previous issues of banknotes were produced by the German printing company Giesecke & Devrient, given the wartime supply shortages, the provisional notes were also printed on commercial paper, wrapping paper, and in one very rare instance, wall paper. The translated text of the states, Provisional Banknote
6.
East African Community
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John Magufuli, the president of Tanzania, is the EACs chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, the EAC is an integral part of the African Economic Community. The EAC is a precursor to the establishment of the East African Federation. In 2010, the EAC launched its own common market for goods, labour, in 2013, a protocol was signed outlining their plans for launching a monetary union within 10 years. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have cooperated with each other since the early 20th century, Burundi and Rwanda joined the EAC on 6 July 2009. Inter-territorial co-operation between the Kenya Colony, the Uganda Protectorate, and the Tanganyika Territory was formalised in 1948 by the EAHC and this provided a customs union, a common external tariff, currency, and postage. It also dealt with common services in transport and communications, research, the new organisation ran into difficulties because of the lack of joint planning and fiscal policy, separate political policies, and Kenyas dominant economic position. In 1967, the EACSO was superseded by the EAC and this body aimed to strengthen the ties between the members through a common market, a common customs tariff, and a range of public services to achieve balanced economic growth within the region. The three member states lost over sixty years of co-operation and the benefits of economies of scale, the EAC was revived on 30 November 1999, when the treaty for its re-establishment was signed. It came into force on 7 July 2000,23 years after the collapse of the previous community, a customs union was signed in March 2004, which commenced on 1 January 2005. Kenya, the regions largest exporter, continued to pay duties on goods entering the four countries on a declining scale until 2010. A common system of tariffs will apply to imported from third-party countries. On 30 November 2016 it was declared that the aim would be confederation rather than federation. This was contradicted by President Salva Kiir, who announced South Sudan had begun the process one month later. The application was deferred by the EAC in December 2012, however incidents with Ugandan boda-boda operators in South Sudan have created political tension and may delay the process. In December 2012, Tanzania agreed to South Sudan’s bid to join the EAC, in May 2013 the EAC set aside US$82,000 for the admission of South Sudan into the bloc even though admission may not happen until 2016. The process, to start after the EAC Council of Ministers meeting in August 2013, was projected to take at least four years. A team was formed to assess South Sudans bid, however, in April 2014 and those recommendations, however, had not been released to the public
7.
Brass
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Brass is a metal alloy made of copper and zinc, the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. It is an alloy, atoms of the two constituents may replace each other within the same crystal structure. By comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin, however, bronze and brass may also include small proportions of a range of other elements including arsenic, phosphorus, aluminium, manganese, and silicon. The term is applied to a variety of brasses. Modern practice in museums and archaeology increasingly avoids both terms for objects in favour of the all-embracing copper alloy. It is also used in zippers, Brass is often used in situations in which it is important that sparks not be struck, such as in fittings and tools used near flammable or explosive materials. Brass has higher malleability than bronze or zinc, the relatively low melting point of brass and its flow characteristics make it a relatively easy material to cast. By varying the proportions of copper and zinc, the properties of the brass can be changed, allowing hard, the density of brass is 8.4 to 8.73 grams per cubic centimetre. Today, almost 90% of all alloys are recycled. Because brass is not ferromagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap near a powerful magnet, Brass scrap is collected and transported to the foundry where it is melted and recast into billets. Billets are heated and extruded into the form and size. The general softness of brass means that it can often be machined without the use of cutting fluid, aluminium makes brass stronger and more corrosion-resistant. Aluminium also causes a highly beneficial hard layer of oxide to be formed on the surface that is thin, transparent. Tin has an effect and finds its use especially in seawater applications. Combinations of iron, aluminium, silicon and manganese make brass wear and tear resistant, to enhance the machinability of brass, lead is often added in concentrations of around 2%. Since lead has a melting point than the other constituents of the brass. The pattern the globules form on the surface of the brass increases the available surface area which in turn affects the degree of leaching. In addition, cutting operations can smear the lead globules over the surface and these effects can lead to significant lead leaching from brasses of comparatively low lead content
8.
Lake Tanganyika
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Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second oldest freshwater lake in the world, second largest by volume, the lake is divided among four countries – Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania and DRC possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean, the name apparently refers to Tanganika, the great lake spreading out like a plain, or plain-like lake. Lake Tanganyika is situated within the Albertine Rift, the branch of the East African Rift. It is the largest rift lake in Africa and the second largest lake by volume in the world and it is the deepest lake in Africa and holds the greatest volume of fresh water, accounting for 18% of the worlds available fresh water. It extends for 676 km in a general direction and averages 50 km in width. The lake covers 32,900 km2, with a shoreline of 1,828 km, a depth of 570 m. It holds an estimated 18,900 cubic kilometres and this is equivalent to about 16% of all fresh water on Earth. The catchment area of the lake is 231,000 km2, two main rivers flow into the lake, as well as numerous smaller rivers and streams. There is one major outflow, the Lukuga River, which empties into the Congo River drainage, the major river flowing into the lake is the Ruzizi River, formed about 10,000 years ago, which enters the north of the lake from Lake Kivu. The Malagarasi River, which is Tanzanias second largest river, enters the east side of Lake Tanganyika, the Malagarasi is older than Lake Tanganyika and, before the lake was formed, directly drained into the Congo River. Apparently it has rarely in the past had an outflow to the sea and it has been described as practically endorheic for this reason. The lakes connection to the sea is dependent on a water level allowing water to overflow out of the lake through the Lukunga into the Congo. Due to the tropical location, it has a high rate of evaporation. Thus it depends on a high inflow through the Ruzizi out of Lake Kivu to keep the lake high enough to overflow. Signs of ancient shorelines indicate that at times Tanganyika may have been up to 300 m lower than its present surface level, even its current outlet is intermittent and may not have been operating when first visited by Western explorers in 1858. Lake Tanganyika is an ancient lake and its three basins, which in periods with much lower water levels were separate lakes, are of different ages. The central began to form 9—12 million years ago, the northern 7—8 mya, there are several islands in Lake Tanganyika
9.
French Polynesian franc
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The franc is the currency of French Polynesia. It is subdivided into 100 centimes, since 1945, it has been part of the CFP franc. Until 1914, the French franc circulated in French Polynesia and that year, banknotes were issued specifically for use on in the colony which circulated along with French coins. In 1945, the CFP franc was introduced, with coins issued for French Oceania from 1949, from 1965, the name French Polynesia has been used. The CFP franc is also issued in New Caledonia and was used in the New Hebrides until 1983, since 1985, banknotes have been issued common to both French Polynesia and New Caledonia, although separate coinages continue. In 1949, aluminium 50 centimes,1 and 2 francs were introduced, followed by aluminium 5 francs in 1952, the 50 centimes was only issued in 1949. These coins carried the name Océanie, from 1965, the name changed to Polynesie. In 1967, nickel 10,20 and 50 francs were introduced, followed by nickel-bronze 100 francs in 1976. The overall design of the coins has not changed since their introduction, in 1914, the Banque de lIndochine in Papeete introduced notes for 5,20 and 100 francs. In 1919, the Chamber of Commerce introduced notes for 25 and 50 centimes,1 and 2 francs, the Banque André Krajewski also issued notes for these denominations in 1920. The Banque de lIndochine introduced 500 franc notes in 1923, followed by 1000 francs in 1940, wartime emergency currency was issued during both World War I and World War II in denominations ranging from 25 centimes to 2½ francs. The illustrated notes are from the 1943 issue of Bons de Caisse des Etablissements Français de lOcéanie, in 1969, the Institut dEmission dOutre-Mer, Papeete took over the issuance of paper money, introducing notes for 100,500,1000 and 5000 francs. The 100 and 1000 franc notes have two variants, the earlier issue lacked the state title République française. The 500 and 5000 franc notes have had the title since their introductions. The 100 franc notes were replaced by coins in 1976, in 1985,10,000 franc notes common to all the French Pacific Territories were introduced. These were followed, between 1992 and 1996, by 500,1000 and 5000 franc notes for all of the French Pacific Territories, the overall design has not changed since 1969. CFP franc New Caledonian franc New Hebrides franc
10.
Comorian franc
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The franc is the official currency of Comoros. It is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes, although no centime denominations have ever been issued, the French franc became the currency of Comoros after the islands became a French protectorate in 1886. In 1891, Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore, Ngazidja issued coins denominated in centimes, in 1912, the Comoros became a province of Madagascar, which was a French possession. French banknotes and coins circulated in the colony, apart from an emergency issue of small change notes in 1920, the French currency circulated alone until 1925. The Malagasy franc was equivalent to the French franc and French coins continued to circulate as Madagascar had no coins of its own until 1943. When the Comoros became a separate French territory in 1945, the name of the bank was changed to the Banque de Madagascar et des Comores. A branch office opened in Comoros in 1953, while the banknotes were changed to reflect the new status of Comoros, the coins were not changed and bore only the name Madagascar. On 26 December 1945, the Madagascar-Comores CFA franc was established, old Madagascar coins and banknotes continued to circulate as this new currency. On 17 October 1948, the CFA franc was revalued to 2 French francs, in 1950, the French government took over majority ownership of the Banque de Madagascar et des Comores. On 1 January 1960, the French franc was revalued, with 100 old francs becoming 1 new franc, the new exchange rate was 1 Madagascar-Comores CFA franc =0.02 French francs. On 26 June 1960, Madagascar gained independence from France, Madagascar left the CFA zone effective 1 July 1973. Sixty-five percent of the foreign reserves of Comoros are held in euros in this account. This account is similar to overnight deposits with the French Treasury, it may bear interest and may, in special circumstances, however, to prevent this account from showing a lasting overdraft, a number of preventative measures have been set up. The ministers of finance of the area meet biannually. The agreement between France and the Comoros is essentially the same as the agreement France has with the CFA Zone and it is a continuation of a relationship of monetary cooperation between the two countries that has existed for more than a century. Until 1994, the Comorian franc was pegged to the French franc at the rate of 50 Comorian francs to 1 French franc and this was changed on January 12,1994, when the currency was devalued in concert with the CFA franc devaluation. However, the Comorian franc was devalued 33⅓% to a new rate of 75 Comorian francs for 1 French franc, with the creation of the euro in January 1999, the Comorian franc was pegged, at its prevailing rate, to the new currency. The exchange rate is now 491.96775 Comorian francs to 1 euro, the post of Deputy Director of the Central Bank of the Comoros is held by a Banque de France official, who is responsible for monetary policy
11.
East African shilling
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The East African shilling was the currency issued for use in British controlled areas in East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was produced by the East African Currency Board and it is also the proposed name for a common currency that the East African Community plans to introduce. In the United Kingdom, the pound sterling used to be divided into twenty shillings, in British East Africa, however, even though twenty shillings were equal in value to one pound sterling, the shilling was always taken to be the primary unit of account. This state of affairs was unique amongst all the parts of the British Empire that used the sterling currency. This anomalous state of affairs arose because the first currency used by the British colonial authorities in British East Africa was the rupee and not the sterling. The East African shilling was introduced to Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda in 1921, the short-lived florin had been introduced because of increasing silver prices after World War I. At that time, the Indian rupee was the currency of the British East African states, the rupee, being a silver coin, rose in value against sterling. When it reached the value of two shillings, the decided to replace it with the florin. From the florin thence came the East African shilling, the currency remained pegged to one shilling sterling and was subdivided into 100 cents. In 1936, Zanzibar joined the board, and the Zanzibari rupee was replaced at a rate of 1.5 East African shillings to 1 Zanzibari rupee. It was replaced by local currencies following the territories independence, in 1951, the East African shilling replaced the Indian rupee in the Aden colony and protectorate, which became the South Arabian Federation in 1963. In 1965, the East African Currency Board was breaking up, the shilling was also used in parts of what is now Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea when they were under British control. Before 1941, these areas, then known as Italian East Africa were using the Italian East African lira, in 1941, as a result of World War II, Britain regained control and introduced the shilling, at a rate of 1 shilling to 24 lira. Italian Somaliland was returned to Italy in 1949 as a UN Trusteeship and soon switched to the Italian Somaliland somalo, British Somaliland gained independence in 1960, and joined what had been Italian Somaliland to create Somalia. In that year Somalia began using the Somali shilling at par with the East African shilling, the East African shilling ceased to be legal tender in Somalia during 1961. Ethiopia regained independence in 1941, with British support and began using the East African shilling, maria Theresa thalers, Indian rupees, and Egyptian pounds were also legal tender at the beginning of this time, and it is unclear exactly when this status ended. Full sovereignty was restored in late 1944, and the Ethiopian birr was reintroduced in 1945 at a rate of 1 birr =2 shillings, Eritrea was captured from the Italians in 1941, and began using the East African shilling, as well as the Egyptian pound. The lira was demonetized in 1942, when Eritrea formed a federation with Ethiopia in 1952, the birr, which was already in use in Ethiopia, was adopted in Eritrea
12.
CFA franc
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The CFA franc is the name of two currencies used in Africa which are guaranteed by the French treasury. The two CFA franc currencies are the West African CFA franc and the Central African CFA franc, although theoretically separate, the two CFA franc currencies are effectively interchangeable. Both CFA francs have an exchange rate to the euro,100 CFA francs =1 former French franc =0.152449 euro. They could theoretically have different values from any moment if one of the two CFA monetary authorities, or France, decided it, therefore, West African CFA coins and banknotes are theoretically not accepted in countries using Central African CFA francs, and vice versa. However, in practice, the permanent parity of the two CFA franc currencies is widely assumed, CFA francs are used in fourteen countries, twelve formerly French-ruled nations in West and Central Africa, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea. These fourteen countries have a population of 147.5 million people. The ISO currency codes are XAF for the Central African CFA franc, the currency has been criticized for making economic planning for the developing countries of French West Africa all but impossible since the CFAs value is pegged to the euro. Between 1945 and 1958, CFA stood for Colonies françaises dAfrique, since independence, CFA is taken to mean Communauté Financière Africaine, but in actual use, the term can have two meanings. The CFA franc was created on 26 December 1945, along with the CFP franc, the reason for their creation was the weakness of the French franc immediately after World War II. When France ratified the Bretton Woods Agreement in December 1945, the French franc was devalued in order to set an exchange rate with the US dollar. New currencies were created in the French colonies to spare them the strong devaluation, French officials presented the decision as an act of generosity. The CFA franc was created with an exchange rate versus the French franc. This exchange rate was changed twice, in 1948 and in 1994. Exchange rate,26 December 1945 to 16 October 1948 –1 CFA franc =1.70 FRF and this 0.70 FRF premium is the consequence of the creation of the CFA franc, which spared the French African colonies the devaluation of December 1945. The 1960 and 1999 events were merely changes in the currency in use in France, the devaluation of 1994 was an attempt to reduce these imbalances. Over time, the number of countries and territories using the CFA franc has changed as some countries began introducing their own separate currencies. A couple of nations in West Africa have also chosen to adopt the CFA franc since its introduction and they are distinguished in French by the meaning of the abbreviation CFA. The Central Africa CFA franc is known in French as the Franc CFA, where CFA stands for Coopération financière en Afrique centrale.0 million people, and a combined GDP of US$88.2 billion
Burundi
