In 1985, the Cameroonian writer Mongo Beti asked him: 'Is the CFA franc not a weapon for the domination of Africa? Does Burkina Faso plan to continue carrying this burden? Why does an African peasant in his village need a convertible currency?' Sankara replied: 'If the currency is convertible or not has never been the concern of the African peasant. He has been plunged against his will into an economic system against which he is defenceless. I therefore think that he should take action to protect himself against the misdeeds of the system in question. As for the monetary issue, it is never isolated from the rest of the economic system. In this sense, we can say that the CFA franc, as it is linked to the French monetary system, is a weapon for the domination of Africa. The French economy, and therefore the French capitalist mercantile bourgeoisie, has built its fortune on the shoulders of our peoples through this bond, this monetary monopoly. This is the reason why Burkina is fighting to end this situation through the struggle of our people to build an independent and self-sufficient economy. How long this fight will last, I can't say.'

Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa's Last Colonial Curr…, loc. 186