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Best Bitcoin Exchange for Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a West African nation, formerly a French colony. The country became a completely independent nation in 1960, two years after the founding of the Republic of Upper Volta. The name Burkina Faso was adopted in 1984. Burkina Faso is an average country that economically uses the West African franc as its currency. The currency is shared with eight other West African countries, including Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Niger and Togo. The use of a common currency in these countries has improved regional economic development and currency stability. The introduction of a fixed exchange rate to the euro protects Burkina Faso from the extreme effects of market changes and thus improves its trading capacity vis-à-vis the countries of the euro zone. With an inflation rate of about 3% in Burkina Faso, the West African franc is one of the most stable currencies in West Africa.

The West African Franc

The West African franc -CFA, ISO code XOF, is the currency of eight West African countries, some of which were previously colonized by France. The countries are also members of the West African Monetary and Economic Union, a sub-regional bloc of ECOWAS. The introduction of the West African franc in 1945 was influenced by the decline of the French West African franc after the Second World War. The Institut d’Emmision of l’Afrique Occidentale Françoise et du Togo originally gave the currency until its replacement by the Central Bank of West Africa in 1959. The West African franc has a fixed exchange rate of one euro to 655,957 CFA francs. The currency also has the same value as the Central African Franc. The Central African Franc is similar to the West African Franc, but is used in former French colonies in the Central African region. The two currencies share the CFA abbreviation, but differ in their ISO codes. The Central African Franc is XAF coded.

Denominations and exchange rates

The West African franc has 100 subunits, called centimes (c). The Central Bank of West African States is based in Senegal and has exclusive responsibility for issuing the currency. Since the introduction of the West African franc, several coin denominations have been created in the form of coins and banknotes. The coins were made of various materials, including aluminium, bronze, copper, nickel, steel or a combination of these materials. Currently there are coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 250 and 500 with banknotes in denominations of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 francs. The West African franc exchanges with the Euro 655,957-CFA francs for one euro. The West African franc exchanges with the US dollar at 1XOF: 0.001731US $.

New currency

In recent years, several governments within the West African franc bloc have called for the introduction of a new currency that demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the West African franc in export trade. The fact that the French Ministry of Finance is supporting the currency has been interpreted by West African countries as France’s continuing influence on the economies of these countries. While the currency gives these countries economic stability, it limits the value of export trade, especially for the eurozone countries.

  • Currency code: CFA Fr, XOF
  • Banknotes with a value of 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000 CFA Fr are in circulation. Coins are available in denominations of 500, 250, 200, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 CFA Fr.
  • The CFA Franc (XOF) is issued by the Banque des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) and used by the 8 members of the African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The CFA Franc (XAF) issued by the Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (BEAC, State Bank of Central African States) is not legal tender in Burkina Faso. The CFA franc is linked to the euro at a fixed exchange rate.
  • Currency exchange: Foreign currencies can be exchanged at the airport, in exchange offices, banks and larger hotels. The most common currencies in Burkina Faso are Euro or Dollar.
  • Credit cards: Visa cards are accepted in major hotels and banks in the capital.
  • Travelers Cheques: If issued in euros or US dollars, they can only be exchanged at major banks.
  • ATMs: Biciab offers the possibility to withdraw money with Visa cards, but the fees are high.
  • Foreign exchange regulations: No restrictions on foreign currency imports and local currency. There is an obligation to declare. The export of the local currency is subject to declaration, the export of foreign currencies is subject to declaration from an amount equivalent to 500,000 CFA. It is very difficult to exchange CFA outside the West African currency zone.
  • Bank opening hours: Mon – Fri 07.00 to 11.00 and 15.30 to 17.00.