This dissertation is organized into three essays. The second essay provides a historical overview of the CFA franc and explores why the CFA franc has survived for so long. It argues that a historical and dialectical materialist analysis of the CFA’s history can best explain both its extraordinary longevity and the periodic major reforms to its functioning. The third essay assesses whether the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) has an independent monetary policy by examining the relationships between BCEAO’s foreign reserves and base money, and between BCEAO and the European Central Banks’s policy rates. The fourth essay evaluates whether the monetary policy transmission mechanism in West Africa is effective by estimating the impact of a change in policy rates and base money on inflation and commercial bank lending. The results of this study suggest that BCEAO is only weakly constrained by its peg to the euro and that it cannot reliably control inflation.