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Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev

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the CFA franc, particularly critical for WCA countries; (b) the Dutch diseaseeffect <strong>in</strong> Zambia; <strong>and</strong> (c) hyper<strong>in</strong>flation <strong>in</strong> Zimbabwe.The CFA franc, the currency <strong>of</strong> 14 WCA countries, is l<strong>in</strong>ked to the euro(or to the French franc before 2000; see box 2.1 for the history <strong>of</strong> the CFAfranc). Follow<strong>in</strong>g the 1994 devaluation <strong>of</strong> the CFA franc aga<strong>in</strong>st the Frenchfranc, WCA countries <strong>in</strong> general, <strong>and</strong> their cotton sectors <strong>in</strong> particular,ga<strong>in</strong>ed competitiveness; production <strong>in</strong> the four WCA study countries nearlydoubled over the next four years (compared with a 20 percent rise over theprevious four years), driven especially by Burk<strong>in</strong>a Faso <strong>and</strong> Mali. However,follow<strong>in</strong>g the very strong appreciation <strong>in</strong> recent years <strong>of</strong> the euro aga<strong>in</strong>st theU.S. dollar (<strong>and</strong> consequently <strong>of</strong> the CFA franc), the competitive edge that itBox 2.1 The CFA Franc <strong>and</strong> <strong>Cotton</strong> <strong>in</strong> WCAThe CFA franc (CFAF) is the common currency <strong>of</strong> 14 WCA countries compris<strong>in</strong>gtwo groups, all members <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Africa</strong>n franc zone. One group<strong>in</strong>cludes Ben<strong>in</strong>, Burk<strong>in</strong>a Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gu<strong>in</strong>ea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal,<strong>and</strong> Togo, which form the West <strong>Africa</strong>n Economic <strong>and</strong> Monetary Union(WAEMU) <strong>and</strong> whose common central bank is the Central Bank <strong>of</strong> West<strong>Africa</strong>n States. The other group <strong>in</strong>cludes Cameroon, the Central <strong>Africa</strong>nRepublic, Republic <strong>of</strong> Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Gu<strong>in</strong>ea, <strong>and</strong> Chad, whichform the Central <strong>Africa</strong> Economic <strong>and</strong> Monetary Community (CEMAC) <strong>and</strong>whose common central bank is the Bank <strong>of</strong> Central <strong>Africa</strong>n States (BEAC).The CFAF was created <strong>in</strong> 1945, when France ratified the Bretton Woodsagreement. At that time, the CFAF was the abbreviation for Franc <strong>of</strong> theFrench Colonies <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> (Franc des Colonies Françaises d’Afrique). In 1958,it became Franc <strong>of</strong> the French Community <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong> (Franc de la CommunautéFrançaise d’Afrique). Today it means Franc <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Africa</strong>n F<strong>in</strong>ancialCommunity (Franc de la Communauté F<strong>in</strong>anciére d’Afrique) for WAEMUmembers <strong>and</strong> Franc <strong>of</strong> F<strong>in</strong>ancial Cooperation <strong>in</strong> Central <strong>Africa</strong> (Franc de laCoopération F<strong>in</strong>anciére en Afrique Centrale) for CEMAC members. Initially,convertibility with the French franc (FF) was set at 0.59 CFAF/FF, becom<strong>in</strong>g0.50 CFAF/FF after the 1948 devaluation <strong>of</strong> the French franc. In 1958, twozeros were added to the exist<strong>in</strong>g denom<strong>in</strong>ation, mak<strong>in</strong>g it 50 CFAF/FF.Dur<strong>in</strong>g the early 1990s, it became <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly apparent that the CFAF wasovervalued. The degree <strong>of</strong> overvaluation, however, differed markedly amongWCA countries. Baffes, Elbadawi, <strong>and</strong> O’Connell (1999), for example, basedon a s<strong>in</strong>gle-equation framework, estimated that dur<strong>in</strong>g the early 1990s, theCFAF was overvalued more than 30 percent <strong>in</strong> Côte d’Ivoire while it wasroughly <strong>in</strong> equilibrium <strong>in</strong> Burk<strong>in</strong>a Faso. Devarajan (1999), based on a simplegeneral equilibrium model, concluded that the CFAF overvaluation <strong>in</strong> 1993(one year before the devaluation) was 78 percent <strong>in</strong> Cameroon, 52 percent <strong>in</strong>(cont<strong>in</strong>ued)MARKET CONTEXT 17

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