CFA franc (BCEAO)

Currency code: XOF

1. 1959

   Regional institutional continuity

   The western CFA branch develops under BCAO. 1959 is an institutional marker, not a fresh redenomination or first CFA coinage.³

2. June 1, 1984

   Territorial readoption

   Mali returns to CFA currency. Territorial return to an existing currency, not creation of XOF from the Malian franc.⁴

3. May 2, 1997

   Territorial adoption

   Guinea-Bissau exchanges pesos for CFA francs. Currency changeover is separate from union accession.⁵

4. January 1, 1999

   Peg

   Western CFA euro anchor.⁶

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Successor connections

• Guinean franc, first unit · Documented · Connection evidence
• Malian franc · Documented · Connection evidence
• Mauritanian ouguiya · Documented · Connection evidence

Changing monetary bases

Euro · 1 January 1999 · euro anchor introduced
655.957 XOF per EUR. Basis and evidence →

The BCEAO dates the common CFA framework to 26 December 1945. This is an ancestral framework anchor, not a claim that today's western and central issuing zones were already identical to their later form.¹

Western CFA devaluation takes effect. Decision on 11 January; not a new CFA unit.²

The western CFA branch develops under BCEAO. 1959 is an institutional marker, not a fresh redenomination or first CFA coinage.³

Mali returns to CFA currency. Territorial return to an existing currency, not creation of XOF from the Malian franc.⁴

Guinea-Bissau exchanges pesos for CFA francs. Currency changeover is separate from union accession.⁵

Western CFA euro anchor.⁶

Source notes

1. BCEAO · Histoire du Franc CFA

   Historique and parity table

2. BCEAO · Histoire du Franc CFA; BCEAO · BCEAO — Chronologie des événements marquants

   Named short source page; relevant history/definition passage as reported in the handoff. · Mali: PDF p.64; 1994: PDF p.77

3. BCEAO · Histoire du Franc CFA; BCEAO · BCEAO — Présentation du musée de la monnaie

   Named short source page; relevant history/definition passage as reported in the handoff.

4. BCEAO · BCEAO — Chronologie des événements marquants; AFRISTAT · AFRISTAT — Price statistics methodological publication; Deutsche Bundesbank · Metadata on the Exchange Rate Statistics, 24 September 2025

   S43, PDF p.157; S28, PDF p.92

5. Deutsche Bundesbank · Metadata on the Exchange Rate Statistics, 24 September 2025

   Guinea-Bissau, PDF p.107

6. BCEAO · Histoire du Franc CFA; French Treasury · French Treasury — La Zone franc de 1939 à aujourd’hui

   Named short source page; relevant history/definition passage as reported in the handoff.

7. central bank historical research · BCEAO Annual Report 2003, historical box 5; original contemporary scholarship · Gérard Barthélémy, Le nouveau franc CFA et la Banque centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

   Printed p 60 / PDF p 81, Encadré n°5 Une tradition d’émission monétaire vieille de 150 ans; Tiers-Monde 4, nos 13–14 (1963), pp 275–277; p 275 inspected

8. French provisional government; reproduced by BCEAO · Decree of 25 December 1945, effective 26 December, in Histoire de l’Union monétaire ouest-africaine, tome I, Des origines à 1958; International Monetary Fund · The CFA Franc System, IMF Staff Papers10(3),1963; original contemporary scholarship · Gérard Barthélémy, Le nouveau franc CFA et la Banque centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

   Decree art1; IMF opening1; Barthélémy275–277

Full claim history and source register →

Cite this currency

“CFA franc (BCEAO).” The Family Tree of Money. Field Technologies, Inc. Data v50; accessed 14 October 2026.