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CASH-BURNING ACTIVIST CALLS FOR END TO FRANCDamaging money can also be a deliberate political act. This Bloomberg article discusses a Senegal activist who burned a banknote to draw attention to his wish to scrap the
franc, which he sees as a tie to former colonial rulers. -Editor
A West African activist who burned a bank note to demonstrate his hatred of the regional CFA franc has reignited a decades-old debate and prompted thousands of supporters in former French colonies to turn to social media and demand that the currency be scrapped. The French-Beninese national, Kemi Seba, appeared in court in Senegal in connection with a video that showed him setting a bank note of 5,000 CFA francs ($9) alight. He was arrested on Aug. 25 after the Central Bank of West African States lodged a complaint for destruction of money. Seba told the court on Tuesday his act had been symbolic. “I burnt the note to raise public awareness and not as lack of respect to anybody,” he said, before being acquitted. Seba says on his Facebook page that French-speaking nations in West and Central Africa should mint their own currencies to free themselves from economic bondage imposed by the former colonial ruler. The CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro and backed by reserves held in France, was established after World War II to help France import goods from its colonies. Seba’s call for the end of the franc has sparked a rare outpouring of support from people across the region that demonstrates the reach of social media activism in West and Central Africa. To read the complete article, see: The story was also covered by the Daily Mail -Editor
To read the complete article, see: The articles did not picture the note, so I wondered, what does the Senegal 5,000 francs note look like? I reached out to Owen Linzmayer, publisher of The Banknote Book, a
great, constantly updated electronic reference. He kindly provided the following images. Thanks! -Editor
  For more information on The Banknote Book, see: Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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