The West African Sahel countries Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger continue their plans to leave the CFA franc and install a new currency, the “sira”, which will be a gold backed digital currency. Originally it was to be called “sahel.”

These three nations are the members of the Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES) which aim to achieve full monetary sovereignty and break the colonial ties to the CFA franc. 

They have created in December 2025 a new regional multilateral institution, the Banque Confédérale pour l’investissement et le Développement de l’AES, to manage financial affaires and assist with currency preparations.

The franc CFA West is still being used, pegged to the euro at the rate of XOF655.957.

It is estimated that the process will take several years.

Source: YouTube.

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