Devaluation

     Can the sovereignty of a country be judged by its currency? The CFA franc was created in 1945 by France for their former colonies including the Ivory Coast. After the death of the first president of the Ivory Coast, Felix Houphouet Boigny, the founding father of the Ivorian nation, France devalued the CFA franc in 1994. That means a hundred CFA francs equaled one French franc, instead of the previous ratio of fifty CFA francs to one French franc. As a result, Ivory Coast went through economic hardships, such as increased social strikes and cost of living. At that time, my father taught sociology at a public university, so as a teacher, he was directly hit by this economic reform. The devaluation of the CFA franc badly affected my family because my father was our main financial resource.

    I was a young boy when my father advised my entire family that salary cuts in public institutions would impact him. In fact, early in the day, the Ivory Coast’s government enforced the devaluation of the CFA franc. My father’s wage was cut by one third, which represented a significant amount. This led to a loss of the purchasing power of the household. My father reduced the household’s current expenses such as our consumption of gas, electricity, and water. Moreover, my father reduced external leisure activities like restaurants, and cinema. In fact, my whole family could go to restaurants or cinema twice during the semester instead of every two Saturdays.

    Furthermore, my family changed their buying habits. Due to the increasing price of imported products, my family bought less expensive French food products like cheese. Instead my family consumed more local food, and discovered another part of the Ivorian culinary diversity. For instance, my mother started to cook a new soup called sauce kope, whose origin was from the south of Ivory Coast. This also had an impact on the price of the fuel. As fuel became more expensive, my father decided to drive less, and all my family would use public transportation more frequently. My Father used to drop and pick my sisters and me  up at school by car, so we had to take the bus.

    Finally, due to the devaluation of the CFA franc, the benefits decreased for education and healthcare. However, the school fees and healthcare fares were raised. Even though my sisters and I went to a public elementary school, my father had to pay high school fees. My father also took care of my cousins who lived in the village. Nevertheless, he could no longer send them to school, so they left school to become farmers. In addition, the unemployment rate increased, so it was hard for new graduates to find a job. Thus, some students in my neighborhood wanted to immigrate to France for a better life.

    Today, as an adult and a responsible father of two children, I can understand the stress encountered by my father at that time. In fact, I am thankful that my father was able to manage that situation, and ensure the general well-being of my family. Thus, I could grow up without missing the essential things. In the end, this devaluation was not as devastating for the Ivorian households as economists predicted. One day, I hope to see the Ivory Coast have its own currency in order to control its economy and its future.