• Funds to support debt repayment, health, salaries, and fiscal reforms
• Marks renewed cooperation after 2021 freeze in French aid

The French Development Agency (AFD) and the Central African Republic (CAR) signed a €25 million budget-support loan agreement on October 22. The financing strengthens bilateral cooperation between Paris and Bangui and is intended to support reforms that improve public finance management, enhance macroeconomic stability, and address urgent social needs.

The loan will help fund essential sectors, including the supply of vaccines and medicines. Part of the funds will also go toward repaying domestic debt and clearing salary arrears in the civil service.

The money will be disbursed in two tranches: €15 million immediately after the signing, and €10 million by the end of 2025, pending the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) fifth review of the CAR’s ongoing adjustment program.

This follows a €10 million budget-support grant extended by the AFD in November 2024, which was transferred to the CAR’s single treasury account to back the 2025 national budget. Of that amount, €5 million was allocated to the Ministry of Finance and Budget for modernizing fiscal management and advancing public-sector digitalization, €3 million to reduce payment arrears in the education sector, and €2 million to prepare for national elections.

The renewed French financial support marks a gradual normalization of relations between Paris and Bangui. France suspended aid to the CAR in 2021 following an anti-French campaign but has since re-engaged through the AFD to help consolidate public finances and modernize public administration.

Chamberline Moko