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Between Stability and Sovereignty: Investigating actor preferences and monetary sovereignty in the West African Economic and Monetary Union

Marthin, Freja Reissig LU and Kunz Quintanar, Pablo LU (2025) STVK12 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
In 2017, thousands of young Africans took to the streets across West Africa protesting the CFA franc — a currency created by France in 1945 for its African colonies — sparking debates over monetary sovereignty and French neocolonialism. As opposition has grown, so has the need to understand the political economy of this monetary regime. This thesis engages with this debate and investigates the support and opposition to the CFA franc by asking: What explains stated actor preferences for the CFA franc regime in the West African Economic and Monetary Union?
Though a single-case study, this thesis tests theoretically inferred actor preferences against stated actor preferences. Based on Open Economy Politics (OEP) theory and Monetary... (More)
In 2017, thousands of young Africans took to the streets across West Africa protesting the CFA franc — a currency created by France in 1945 for its African colonies — sparking debates over monetary sovereignty and French neocolonialism. As opposition has grown, so has the need to understand the political economy of this monetary regime. This thesis engages with this debate and investigates the support and opposition to the CFA franc by asking: What explains stated actor preferences for the CFA franc regime in the West African Economic and Monetary Union?
Though a single-case study, this thesis tests theoretically inferred actor preferences against stated actor preferences. Based on Open Economy Politics (OEP) theory and Monetary Dependency theory, a theoretical framework has been developed, setting up a comparative analysis of the theories' explanatory power.
The thesis finds mixed results for whether OEP theory explains actor preferences on the CFA franc regime, and points to the importance of further exploring explanatory factors. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of why actors want what they want — and why, in the case of the CFA franc regime, OEP theory only tells part of the story. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Marthin, Freja Reissig LU and Kunz Quintanar, Pablo LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK12 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
CFA franc, West Africa, international political economy, open economy politics, monetary sovereignty, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal
language
English
id
9189623
date added to LUP
2025-08-07 16:27:59
date last changed
2025-08-07 16:27:59
@misc{9189623,
  abstract     = {{In 2017, thousands of young Africans took to the streets across West Africa protesting the CFA franc — a currency created by France in 1945 for its African colonies — sparking debates over monetary sovereignty and French neocolonialism. As opposition has grown, so has the need to understand the political economy of this monetary regime. This thesis engages with this debate and investigates the support and opposition to the CFA franc by asking: What explains stated actor preferences for the CFA franc regime in the West African Economic and Monetary Union?
Though a single-case study, this thesis tests theoretically inferred actor preferences against stated actor preferences. Based on Open Economy Politics (OEP) theory and Monetary Dependency theory, a theoretical framework has been developed, setting up a comparative analysis of the theories' explanatory power.
The thesis finds mixed results for whether OEP theory explains actor preferences on the CFA franc regime, and points to the importance of further exploring explanatory factors. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of why actors want what they want — and why, in the case of the CFA franc regime, OEP theory only tells part of the story.}},
  author       = {{Marthin, Freja Reissig and Kunz Quintanar, Pablo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Between Stability and Sovereignty: Investigating actor preferences and monetary sovereignty in the West African Economic and Monetary Union}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}