The
Central African CFA franc (
French:
franc CFA or simply
franc,
ISO 4217 code:
XAF) is the currency of six independent states in central Africa,
Cameroon,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Republic of the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea and
Gabon. CFA stands for
Coopération financière en Afrique centrale ("Financial Cooperation in Central Africa"). It is issued by the BEAC (
Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale, "Bank of the Central African States"), located in
Yaoundé,
Cameroon, for the members of the CEMAC (
Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale, "
Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa"). The franc is nominally subdivided into 100
centimes but no centime denominations have been issued.
In several west African states, the
West African CFA franc, which is of equal value to the Central African CFA franc, is in circulation.
History
The CFA franc was introduced to the French colonies in Equatorial Africa in 1945, replacing the
French Equatorial African franc. The Equatorial African colonies and territories using the CFA franc were
Chad,
French Cameroun,
French Congo,
Gabon and
Ubangi-Shari. The currency continued in use when these colonies gained their independence.
Equatorial Guinea, the only former Spanish colony in the zone, adopted the CFA franc in 1984, replacing the
Equatorial Guinean ekwele at a rate of 1 franc = 4 bipkwele.
Coins
In 1948, coins were issued for use in all the colonies (not including French...
Read More