West African CFA franc
| West African CFA franc | |
|---|---|
| franc CFA BCEAO (French) | |
Current coins of the West African CFA franc.
|
|
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | XOF |
| Number | 952 |
| Exponent | 0 |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | centime |
| Symbol | CFA |
| centime | c |
| Nickname | céfa, franc |
| 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 Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Mali Niger Senegal Togo
|
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Central Bank of West African States |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Pegged with | euro = CFA 655.957 |
The West African CFA franc (French: franc CFA; Portuguese: franco CFA or simply franc, ISO 4217 code: XOF) is the currency of eight independent states in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. These eight countries have a combined population of 105.7 million people (as of 2014), and a combined GDP of US$78.4 billion (as of 2012).
The acronym CFA stands for Communauté Financière d'Afrique ("Financial Community of Africa") or Communauté Financière Africaine ("African Financial Community"). The currency is issued by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, "Central Bank of the West African States"), located in Dakar, Senegal, for the members of the UEMOA (Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine, "West African Economic and Monetary Union"). The franc is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes but no centime denominations have been issued.
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 the CFA franc.
The CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies in West Africa in 1945, replacing the French West African franc. The West African colonies and territories using the CFA franc were Ivory Coast, Dahomey, French Sudan, Mauritania, Niger, Sénégal, Togo and Upper Volta. The currency continued in use when these colonies gained their independence, except in Mali (formerly French Sudan), which replaced at par the CFA franc with its own franc in 1961.
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Wikipedia