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Does French-backed CFA franc keep some African countries poor?

CFA franc banknotes by the Central Bank of West African States. Activists in Africa have called for the CFA franc to be abandoned. PHOTO | AFP

By  BBC

Luigi Di Maio, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the populist Five Star Movement, has blamed France for impoverishing Africa and encouraging migration to Europe.

He accused the French government of manipulating the economies of mainly former French colonies in Africa, which use a form of the pre-independence currency known as a CFA franc.

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