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Surprise Surprise. What do we have here? French President Emmanual Macron and the CEO of BUA Cement signing a deal to build a mega oil refinery in Akwa Ibom. A refinery with a 200,000 bpd capacity. Why is this significant?
For decades French propaganda machinery has branded Nigeria the mortal enemy in the francophone world and have consistently dissuaded francophone states from forming economical deals with Nigeria and for decades they have obeyed this decree.
However recently they broke ranks
However recently they broke ranks
and decided to join the Nigeria led ECOWAS common currency to promote regional trade and investment. ECOWAS had taken several steps towards the achievement of the goal, including giving it a name, the Eco, setting up a body, the West African Monetary Institute, to midwife the
currency, and establishing a time plan for its adoption. Dont forget the Eco was supposed to be introduced in 2020. However In a surprise move on 21 December, the eight West African countries using the CFA Franc announced their decision to rename their common currency the Eco
from 2020. The CFA Franc is used by Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, all former French colonies. As part of the decision, announced in Abidjan by Côte d’Ivoire’s President at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, the
Eco will remain pegged to the Euro but the 8-country bloc will not have to keep 50% of their foreign reserves in the French Treasury like it has always done. They dont even feel the shame in announcing they keep their reserves in French treasuries.
The decision to rename the CFA Franc as a precursor to the introduction of the ECOWAS common currency, the Eco. However, events since then show that this may not be the case. Abidjan announcement backing the renaming of the CFA Franc is a well executed coup.
..which France is good at executing. The decision to rename CFA Franc was jointly announced by Ouatarra and Macron shows that it was a decision jointly reached with France. We will be doing ourselves a disservice by pretending otherwise...
i mean the decision was announced on 21 December, when ECOWAS was also to meet in Abuja to decide on its own Eco was a slap to Nigerias face. This was followed by another slap when France signed a new monetary cooperation agreement with the West African Monetary Union (WAMU),
That means this neo-colonial link is still there. The French move breaks up the 30-year struggle by ECOWAS to establish a regional currency to promote trade and development. What France has done is that it takes over the responsibility of establishing and even printing the new
currency and presents the other countries in the region with a fait accompli”. France is also keeping the new currency attached to the Euro and therefore aligning it with its colonial interest as it has always done with the CFA.
This means that the other seven West African countries can only join on conditions established by France. Its terrible enough France built military bases right under our noses, now they hijacked an an entire regions economic integration project right under our nose.
In effect, France has taken over the baby that ECOWAS has had great difficulty in delivering. Killing any chances of francophone states economic integration with Nigeria. These impoverished countries rely on France economically. Access to the Nigerian market and liberalization
will open their economies to Nigerian investments as has been the case in Ghana, S-Leone, Liberia etc. The French will not have them enjoy that economic benefit...
and here you have the same France that forbade francophone states integrating economically with Nigeria and sabotaging the ECO project going behind their back signing trade and investment deals with Nigeria. This is hilarious....you cannot make this up.
Paris does not want francophone countries to leave their mental plantation. They have been forced to be there for decades and generations. Contrast that with Nigeria and Ghana visavis Britain. We are free people with free minds. We are independent thinkers
...and i believe our francophone cousins deserve the same and only Nigeria can provide them that economic mental emancipation. This is no time for anti-Nigeria sentiments that is getting old. Think !! France knows Nigeria holds the key to francophone economic independence.
