The Regional Fragmentation of West Africa and the Integration into the World Economy from the Perspective of Money: the 19th and 20th Centuries(Fostering Joint International Research)

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15KK0080
• Research Category: Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economic history
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Masaki Toyomu 金沢大学, 経済学経営学系, 教授 (30315527)
• Project Period (FY): 2016 – 2019
• Keywords: ギネ / 貨幣 / 財政 / 西アフリカ / 商品貨幣 / 植民地貨幣 / 子安貝 / 世界経済

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research attempted to unveil the impacts of the transitions from the monetary spheres with commodity money to those with the colonial currencies on the economic agents and economy in West Africa.
For this purpose, I was appointed as a visiting scholar at the University of Rouen Normandy from September 2017 to February 2018 and at the University of Cambridge from March to September 2018 and from October to December 2019. During my stay abroad, I presented papers seven times at seminars or international conferences, which enabled me to strengthen my relationship with foreign scholars.These would certainly lead to further research collaboration.
As a wrap-up outcome, Professor Gareth Austin （University　of　Cambridge)　and I organized an international workshop, Money in West Africa, at Clare Hall, the University of Cambridge, on 17 December 2019.

Free Research Field

経済史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現在、西アフリカで行われている通貨統合の試みは、宗主国によって分断された通貨制度を再統合させる作業ともいえる。しかし、計画から20年を経ても実現しておらず、本研究で、その歴史的背景を明らかにした。
CFAフランの制度は植民地主義的といわれるが、その形成過程を紐解くと、政策決定時に最適だと思われるものを選択してきた結果にすぎず、アフリカ側にもその選択を支持してきた人たちがおり、そう単純に批判できるものでもないことが明らかとなった。
商品貨幣から植民地貨幣への移行過程も、21世紀現在の人々が、紙幣と電子マネーを同時並行で使うといった貨幣選択行動とよく似ており、現代社会理解にもつながるはずである。