Central African CFA Franc (XAF)

Basic Concepts of the Central African Franc

The Central African Franc (XAF) is the official currency of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), issued and managed centrally by the Bank of Central African States. It is a fixed-exchange-rate currency, pegged to the euro, with a fixed exchange rate of 1 euro equal to 655.957 Central African francs, ensuring its stability and predictability.

Countries of use

The Central African franc is in circulation in the following six Central African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. These countries form the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), which shares a unified monetary policy and financial system to promote regional economic integration.

Unit and denomination

The unit of the Central African franc is the "franc", and the unit of coins is the "cent", but in practice the coins are no longer used. The denominations of banknotes are 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 francs, while coins are available in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 francs, which are convenient for daily transactions and savings needs.

Historical background

The CFA franc originated in 1945 when France created the "CFA franc" system for its African colonies, initially linked to the French franc. With the independence of African countries, the CFA franc was formalized in 1972 and managed by the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (BACC), which pegged it to the euro in 1999, continuing its tradition of stability and supporting the economic development and trade activities of its member countries.