Insertion des pays de la zone franc africaine dans le commerce mondial : étude d’une spécialisation appauvrissante et le problème du financement de l’économie (Insertion of the African Franc Zone Countries into the Global Trade: A Study of an Impoverishing Specialization and the Problem of Economy Funding)

Les problèmes du mode d’insertion des pays de la Zone Franc Africaine dans le commerce mondial trouvent leurs explications dans la forte concentration des exportations sur des matières premières dont la demande mondiale est régressive et sur des importations des produits manufacturés dont la demande mondiale est progressive. Malgré une intégration économique et monétaire, les échanges intra-régionaux sont marginaux à cause des structures de production homogènes et concurrentes. La spécialisation et la forte extraversion de l’économie des pays de la ZFA sont donc à l’origine d’une croissance économique de long terme non soutenue, des déficits publics récurrents à l’origine de la crise de la dette. Ainsi, l’amélioration des performances macroéconomiques des pays de la ZFA nécessite le passage d’une économie de rente à une économie de production. The problems of the insertion mode of the African Franc Zone (AFZ) Countries into the Global Trade are explained by the strong specialization of exports in raw materials -the demand of which is regressive- and of imports in manufactured products -the demand of which is progressive. The main part of exchanges is made with some OECD countries for historical, political and economic reasons. In spite of the economic and monetary integration, intra-regional exchanges remain marginal because of the homogeneous and competitive production structures. The oligopolistic feature of raw materials markets, the subsidies granted by the industrial countries to heir farmers, the stock and strategic provisions management policies and speculation are as many factors that make of AFZ countries takers of a price, which, compared with the price of manufactured products, shows a deterioration of terms of trade, generating thus low and volatile revenues. The specialization and the strong extraversion of the AFZ economies are hence at the origin of an unsustainable long-run growth, and recurrent public deficits are as well at the origin of the government debt crisis. Therefore, the improvement of macroeconomic performances of the AFZ countries requires the transition from a financial rent economy to a production economy.