[Music] this is a banknote from Seneca here is another from Congo they look nothing like each other yet they are part of the same scheme a scheme that pegs both currencies to the euro are rate determined by the French treasury the issue at stake is the Apex of French policy making the CFA Franc using it France controls the monetary sovereignty of 14 Nations making up nearly 200 million people these countries include Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon Guinea bissau Ivory Coast Mali Niger Senegal Togo and the Central African Republic and while these nations have a seat that the United Nations and wave their independent Flags it is only the face of imperialism that has changed the conduct of business has largely remained the same the big difference is that imperialism used to be spread through tanks nowadays it can through banks [Music] [Applause] special thanks to the sponsor of this video War Thunder the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever made War Thunder is available on PC PlayStation and Xbox just download and play the game has an arsenal of more than 2 000 historically accurate tanks planes helicopters and ships from the 1920s to the present day what I enjoy most about it is the way the combined arms is played out every vehicle is incredibly detailed which adds to the game's immersive combat experience all this powered by incredible graphics and Detail in 4K resolution best of all it's free so play War Thunder Now using the link on the screen upon registration you will get a large free bonus pack that includes multiple premium Vehicles premium account boosters and much more anyone can create money the hard part is having others accept it in pre-colonial times many African societies used Cavalry seashells as a medium of exchange these seashells were so widely circulated that by 1800 they had an official exchange rate with the French currency but as the French Empire colonized deeper into Africa Paris sought to monopolize these circuits of production and trade taxes were demanded in France and armed troops were sent to markets forcing Merchants to accept French currency from the 1930s onwards France came to dominate the money supply in french-speaking Africa with new power came new extra judicial perks Paris gained access to African labor and raw materials at sub-market prices while finished goods were sold back to Africa at above market prices French Neo colonialism was so intrusive so ruthless so unique that it earned a name of its own Franz afrique following World War II however things changed Paris joined the bretonwood system and as a result the French franc was devalued to set a fixed exchange rate with the US dollar these fiscal reforms were taking place at the time when Africa was decolonizing itself a weaker currency only added fuel to the fire so to hold on to its African Holdings France conjured a new currency in 1945 called the TFA frog and forced its colonies to adopt it initially the CFA Franc was packed to its French counterpart at a rate of 1. 7 to 1 but in 1948 it was increased to two to one by overvaluing the CFA Franc Paris maintained its economic advantage while crushing Africa's export competitor business so in a way France built its post-war recovery partially to a wealth transfer from Africa even so the most effective forms of control are those that are invisible recognizing this in 1958 France hijacked authentic decolonization by installing local collaborators and granting them statehood these collaborators became the custodians of France's neo-colonial Empire by maintaining the Franc Zone and French military bases only Guinea turned down the offer its leader secretori declared that his people preferred being poor in Freedom than rich in slavery Guinea thus rejected the CFA Franc seeking to develop its own currency France felt it needed to make an example of Guinea so it cut pensions to War veterans dismantled Guinea's power grid and then attempted to block its un membership France went as far as to induce hyperinflation by flooding the country with counterfeit bills all the while funding armed anti-government resistance yeah it got pretty crazy the plan ultimately failed to dislodge sequituri but Guinea's economy never fully recovered likewise when Togo had a change of heart and sought to ditch the CFA frog France made another example this time without Loose Ends Togo's leader silvanos olympio was assassinated in January 1963. French involvement is suspected but official records remain conveniently closed of itself further attempts to conceal French imperialism followed the CFA Franc was split into two currencies covering the Central and West African states by the mid-1970s their respective central banks were Africanized and moved to yaunde and Dakar though local Africans staff these institutions there were no fundamental policy changes and France retained veto power over the Banks's governing statures this included a requirement that member states deposit half their exchange Reserves at the French treasury plus another 20 for financial liabilities meaning member states retained access only to 30 percent of their money moreover All Foreign Exchange conversions were to pass through the French treasury the way this fiscal policy works is by operations accounts these are special accounts held at the French treasury the denominations are in Euros but when accounts are in credit the African central banks effectively placed their foreign exchange Reserves at France's disposal but when the central bank's accounts are in debit they are obligated to pay interest to the French treasury in other words CF fa member States pay France to hold on to their money even more unsettling no one knows what France does with the money the French treasury does not disclose this information even to CFA Frank Nations so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary if France were to reinvest African funding for French profit however one looks at it the CFA scheme is an effective Money Maker for France and French businesses benefit as much as the French treasury more specifically France doesn't need to draw on its foreign exchange reserves for African Imports dozens of French multinationals are present in Africa including total energies areva and Vinci Africa also grants France access to strategic resources like uranium which is indispensable for France's nuclear energy sector meeting three-quarters of French energy needs meanwhile Gabon is a source of crude oil Mauritania delivers iron ore while Togo and Benin provide agricultural Commodities Additionally the icing on the cake French national Vince Boulevard owns most of West Africa's major ports it is thus not by incident that former French president Jacques chirag once stated that much of the money in French banks comes precisely from exploiting Africa and that France would lose its Global standing without its African Empire to preserve its hegemony France has intervened militarily on the continent 40 times since the 1960s from propping up corrupt dictators to conducting military operations in the sahil moreover the configurations of the CFA Franc allow profits and capital to be repatriated with ease between 1970 and 2010 Ivory Coast lost 40 billion dollars to Capital flight which could have reduced poverty by 10 percent annually had it been reinvested domestically meanwhile Equatorial Guinea and Congo the main oil producers transferred out the money equivalent of 43 and 30 percent of their respective gdps between 2000 and 2009.
similar Trends are present in Gabon and Cameroon opulence at the top generates misery below though Advocates point to the CFA francs stability a lack of monetary sovereignty restricts the tools available to the CFA member states for instance Ivory Coast's inflation rate is below six percent versus 29 percent in neighboring Ghana but the latter's extreme poverty rate is only 13 versus 30 percent of ivorians the CFA member states also lag behind other African States growth wise some are even going backwards Ivory coasters real GDP per capita is one third lower than in 1978. in 2016 Senegal was at its 1960 level meanwhile Cameroon Congo and Gabon have not topped their respective peaks of 1986 1984 and 1976.
