Africa is, without exaggeration, a special continent. For a person from Europe, it may seem that all African countries are approximately the same, but this is far from the case. To understand this, it is enough to visit there at least once. Each of the countries is unique in its own way. Each has its own history and culture. This is also reflected in the monetary systems.
The dark continent is quite interesting to study in this regard, because there you can not only learn about the history of local currency in general and specifically by country, but also see firsthand how everything developed and evolved, because there are still places where that same archaism has been preserved.
In the 21st century, it is no secret that Africa is the cradle of humanity. It was there that humans originated as a species. It was from there that we emerged and then populated the entire world. People have come a long way in their development. History of African currencies also quite complex and multifaceted - from primitive commodity exchange to modern financial mechanisms. Some changes occurred by themselves in the process of the development of civilization, some were simply natural accidents, and something was the result of the influence of the white man during the colonial influence, which we must not forget. This is exactly what we propose to talk about, so the topic of this article is African currency.
Ancient currencies of Africa
Today, when it comes to money, most of us immediately have images of metal coins and banknotes in our heads. Some may even think about electronic versions of resources, for example, cryptocurrency. Some are so used to bank plastic cards that they have even forgotten what modern money looks like. Of course, humanity has come a long way. For thousands of years, people had enough of simple exchange before money. We are talking about the so-called barter. It allowed our ancestors to exchange a wide variety of things. It should be said that in some regions it is still quite popular. Of course, this option is not ideal and has many disadvantages, but at the same time it has its advantages, which is why it still exists.
A little later, the so-called "commodity money" began to appear. If we talk specifically about Africa, then there the shells of sea creatures, salt, local fruits, livestock, etc. were initially used as money. A little later - copper bars, beads, fabrics, ivory. Cowrie shells deserve special attention. In West Africa, they were actively used as "commodity money" until the 19th century.
And when? money appeared in Africa, if we talk specifically about the format familiar to us - coins? It is known that the first metal money appeared there in the Middle Ages. For example, in the Mali Empire, gold bars and dust were used, which were weighed using special scales. There was also something similar to metal money in Zimbabwe and other countries of southeastern Africa.
Colonial African currency
European expansion significantly influenced the lives of people on the Black Continent in general, and the financial system in particular. How? First of all, the colonialists introduced their own monetary units: franc, pound sterling, escudo, rupee. Of course, this slowed down the development or even completely supplanted the national currencies of Africa. Separately, it should be said about the West African and Central African francs. They were created and introduced by France - one of the colonial countries. What is special about these types of currency, you ask? The thing is that everyone is very used to them, so they survived even after many countries gained independence.
National currencies of African countries
In the middle of the 20th century, African countries began to gain independence. This affected various areas, including the financial one. In particular, this contributed to the emergence of their own currencies. Officially, the first national currency appeared in 1958. It is considered Ghanaian cediThe country of Ghana itself had gained independence from Britain only a year earlier. Before independence, the West African pound, already mentioned in the text above, had been actively used there for decades.
A little later, other African countries began to have their own money: the Nigerian naira, the South African rand, the Kenyan and Tanzanian shillings, the Egyptian pound, and others.
And do all the countries of the Black Continent have their own national currency today? You will be surprised, but the answer to this question: no! The CFA franc is still used by fourteen countries. It has been there since the time of colonization by France. Is it good or bad? This is still being debated. Some believe that there is nothing wrong with this, because there is no negative impact on the economy. There are also those who are sure that this is a colonial legacy that limits the economic independence of the region and reminds local residents of difficult times.
So what is the currency in Africa today?
Today there are more than forty of them. The most popular are the South African rand, the Botswanan pula and the Moroccan dirham. By the way, they are the most stable in terms of exchange rates. Not all of them were so lucky. For example, the global crisis of 2008 also affected the currencies of Africa. As a result, the Zimbabwean dollar was so devalued that the government was forced to issue a new banknote with a face value of 100 trillion.
What about currencies that are popular in the world? Can they be used in Africa? Yes, some can. For example, the US dollar, the euro, and the Chinese yuan effectively function as parallel currencies.
A single currency for Africa – is it possible?
This is something that has been talked about for more than a decade. It should be said that there were more than just discussions about it. There were certain preparatory moments to create a certain common currency for the continent. The name “Afro” was even invented. African leaders have repeatedly discussed this. Many agreed that it made sense and was quite possible. Be that as it may, it was never done. Why? In short, because of certain economic and political obstacles. Or to be more precise? For example, the level of economic development in different African countries is very different. In addition, many local national currencies are unstable. Inflation is a constant phenomenon. Of course, it is difficult to create something unified in such conditions.
In 2013, there were ideas to create an “eco” currency. This idea was proposed by the Economic Community of West African States. Again, this has not been implemented to date.
Let's summarize
Thus, the currencies of Africa are a rather interesting topic for discussion. Today there are about 40 different local currencies. In addition, the US dollar, the euro and the Chinese yuan are used in parallel. As for the creation of one single currency for all of Africa, it is quite possible at some point, but for now it is nothing more than ideas and talk.
