Working Paper

Economic Integration in West Africa: Does the CFA Make a Difference?

Publication Date
19 Mar 2026
Authors
David Fielding Kalvinder Shields
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Abstract

In this paper we use data from 17 African nations in order to investigate the hypothesis that monetary union– represented in this case by the CFA Franc Zone – augments the extent of macroeconomic integration indeveloping countries. The paper covers a number of dimensions of integration including the volume ofbilateral trade, real exchange rate volatility and the magnitude of cross-country business cycle correlation.

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