When French President Emmanuel Macron holds talks with his Ivory Coast counterpart on Saturday (December 22), the future of the French-backed CFA franc currency will be under scrutiny.

It's a lifeline on which 14 west and central African nations depend.

Tied to the euro at a fixed exchange rate, the currency offers monetary stability.

The peg is guaranteed by the French Treasury.

But increasingly, it's being seen as a vestige of French colonialism.

With some critics saying it takes away control of monetary policy from African states.

And pressure is growing from regional leaders and activists to change it.

Currency expert Proa Yao Augustin.

(SOUNDBITE) (French) CURRENCY EXPERT PROA YAO AUGUSTIN, SAYING:

"Because today we do not benefit from the flexibility of the world economy. It is as if we can only deal commercially with a single country, France, and in a subsidiary fashion, with the European countries. So this parity causes us problems. All the serious economists have carried out research and shown that the rate of exchange that we need here in the CFA zone is a flexible exchange rate."

Ivorian President Alassane Ouatarra, in charge of Francophone West Africa's biggest economy, is a strong supporter of the currency.

Benin's President Patrice Talon is the most prominent in the region to openly call for a CFA pull out.

When Macron visited Burkina Faso two years ago, he addressed the issue.

(SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

"The CFA Franc - France is not its master she is its guarantor. What does that mean? It means that first of all it is the choice of the member states of the CFA zone. No one is forcing any state to be a member."

Since then, African leaders have launched a continental free-trade zone to create a single economic bloc.

And discussed creating the ECO, an African currency that would unite 15 countries in West Africa.