Bank of Central African States

The Bank of Central African States (Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale, BEAC) is a central bank that serves six central African countries which form the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. In 1920, the French government expanded the note-issuance privilege of the Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale to its central African colonies of Congo, Ubangi-Shari, Gabon, Chad, and later Cameroon. This arrangement was disrupted during World War II, as the colonies controlled by Free France became Free French Africa. The Caisse Centrale de la France Libre was established in London in December 1941 to manage the regional currency, and was renamed Caisse centrale de la France d'outre-mer (CCFOM) in 1944. The region's currency was standardized in late 1945 as the CFA Franc. In 1955, the French government transferred the CCFOM's monetary role in the colonies of French Equatorial Africa to a new entity, the Institut d'émission de l'Afrique équatoriale française et du Cameroun, which in 1959 was renamed the Banque centrale des états de l'Afrique équatoriale et du Cameroun (BCEAEC) after it became clear that the colonies would soon become independent nations. The BCEAEC, headquartered in Paris, acted as the new countries' joint central bank throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, similarly as its sister entity the BCEAO for the former colonies of French West Africa. On , the five countries gathered in Brazzaville signed Financial Cooperation Conventions between themselves and with France that formed the basis for their continued use of the CFA Franc, rebranded as standing for "Coopération Financière en Afrique" instead of "Communauté française d'Afrique". Under these agreements, the BEAC was established to succeed the BCEAEC and manage the joint currency, with a convertibility guarantee provided by the French Treasury. On , the member states met in Fort-Lamy and decided to locate the new institution in Cameroon.