> France Secretly Owns 14 Countries. Directed by CaspianReport, 2023. YouTube, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-u1Pjce4Lg>.
# France secretly owns 14 countries
- **==France controls the monetary sovereignty of 14 African countries (ca. 200 million people) thanks to the CFA Franc==**, whose values are pegged to the euro
- In the 1930s, France forced those countries to use its currency, the franc, granting it a trade monopoly and many extrajudicial perks
- To evade the Bretton Woods agreement, France created the CFA Franc in 1945 and forced African countries to use it, pegging it to the franc
- France put its pawns at the head of African governments to maintain control
- Guinea refused: "Better poor in freedom than rich in slavery"
- France therefore directed CIA-like efforts towards destroying its status and economy: stopped veteran pensions, dismantled its power grid and flooded its economy with counterfeit bills
- Same with Togo: its rebel leader was assassinated with suspected French involvement
- **CFA Franc Member states have to deposit 50% of their exchange reserves at the French Treasury**
- **No one knows what France does with this money**
- To protect its interests, France intervened militarily in Africa 40 times since 1960
- Despite the CFA Franc's stability, Ivory Coast has a much higher poverty rate than its neighbor Ghana (30% v 13%)
- Some CFA member states have had stagnant economic growth for decades
- Attempts to break free from French hegemony would need a joint effort