Which are the economic characteristics?

The OIF has actually emerged as a political actor with France and Canada being at the top representatives of La Francophonie. In terms of soft-power, we can encounter a clear goal in french-speaking countries to develop their own leadership in economics.

Sharing a common language brings a contraction in trade, business and communication costs, making it much more affordable for companies to get in a new market, but at the same time sustain existing trade flows over time, including in the event of an economic interruption. In addition to these costs, sharing a language also appears to have an impact on the level of the collective trust. Based on an Eurobarometer survey, which was held in 2013, investigators have proved that sharing the same language fosters mutual faith, which in return has a massive positive effect on the global trade of Francophone Countries. Generally speaking, linguistic ties raise our understanding of certain economic behaviors in areas such as international trade, economy and competitive business world.


In 2013, almost 14% of the trade of French-speaking countries was regulated with other countries in this association. With the fact that the Francophone community assumed for roughly 8% of global GDP in 2013, this picture confirms that there is a trade link between these countries. Apart from the same language benefits, other elements such as historical ties, geographical closeness, advantageous trade agreements etc. also has massive impacts on trade within the Francophone community, as well. For the purpose of showing the impact of using the same language, an econometric analysis on a broad sample (153 countries, including 33 French-speaking countries for the period 1995-2009) shows that, on average, it is supposed that a French-speaking country gain benefits from an additional trade of 22%. This has expanded per capita wealth by 6% in these countries and reduced the unemployment rate by 0.2%. If an example should be given, France benefits from an ambiguous impact on its GDP per capita of 2.6%.

Canada's weight on the francophonie's economy

Canada has seven million citizens who live, speak, and work in French. Approximately one million Francophones live across Canada in other parts and territories. Furthermore, two million Canadians of diverse origins speak French as a second language. All of these Canadians share and use the French language in every aspect of their life as a whole.

Canada is the second biggest backer to the IOF, after France, and one of La Francophonie main countries. It plays a crucial part in every IOF institution. As a dominant member, Canada was active in building the strategy, and its effective implementation is a preference of Canada’s commitment within La Francophonie. The Strategy serve as an essential economic opportunity for Canada in terms of new possibilities for the international development of its economy and investments, as well as international cooperation in key areas such as cultural and economical industries.

References:


- Carrère, C.(2 August 2016) Speaking the same language: a real economic asset, ID4D, Blog of Agence Française de Développement [blog], Retrieved: 9 November, 2019. Available: https://ideas4development.org/en/speaking-the-same-language-a-real-economic-asset/
- International Organisation of La Francophonie. Données et statistiques [online] Retrieved 8 November 2019. Available: http://observatoire.francophonie.org/ressources/ 
- RECHSTAT (2019) Rechstat-Statistics, [online] retrieved 9 November, 
- Statisque Canada = Statistics Canada (2019) Recensement, [online]. Retrieved 8 November. Available: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-fra.cfm?MM=1 
- Une stratégie économique pour la Francophonie internationale (mars, 17 2006) Notes de la coline [blog], Retrieved 11 November, 2019.





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