Fintech & digital payments rules in Central African Republic (2026)

CEMAC Regulation No. 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC, adopted 21 December 2018 and in force 1 January 2019, created a non-banking payment institution category, allowing telecom operators and fintechs to issue e-money with ministerial authorisation in their CEMAC member state and prior COBAC assent. CAR, as a CEMAC member, falls under this regime.

COBAC monitors, regulates, and supervises mobile money and electronic payment services across all six CEMAC states including CAR, while BEAC oversees the broader monetary and financial system. National licensing decisions require COBAC assent before the national Minister of Finance may grant authorisation.

Three mobile telephony operators—Orange, Telecel, and Mouv—each offer mobile money services in CAR. Orange additionally enables cross-border transfers to all six CEMAC states. These operators constitute the primary de facto digital payments infrastructure, but fully licensed independent payment institutions under the COBAC framework are not documented in CAR.

A new CEMAC regulation, No. 01/24/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC, was issued in 2024, updating the regional payment services framework. In February 2026, BEAC and the IMF co-organised a seminar in Yaoundé with COBAC and national regulators to define a harmonised and secure framework for crypto-assets and fintech across CEMAC, applicable to CAR.

In 2022, CAR became the first African country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, a move explicitly disapproved by BEAC. COBAC subsequently prohibited banks and licensed credit institutions in CEMAC from holding, transacting in, or settling crypto-currency operations, creating a regulatory conflict specific to CAR.

Low internet penetration, unreliable electricity infrastructure, and the post-conflict operating environment significantly constrain CAR's ability to implement and enforce the CEMAC licensing framework domestically. The Carnegie Endowment (2023) identified weak institutional capacity and security risks as core barriers to formalising digital finance in CAR.