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Central African Republic Central African Republic 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 3 Central African Republic 4 Africa 5 Chapter 2 7 Political Overview 7 History 8 Political Conditions 9 Political Risk Index 36 Political Stability 50 Freedom Rankings 65 Human Rights 77 Government Functions 80 Government Structure 81 Principal Government Officials 86 Leader Biography 90 Leader Biography 90 Foreign Relations 94 National Security 102 Defense Forces 105 Chapter 3 107 Economic Overview 107 Economic Overview 108 Nominal GDP and Components 111 Population and GDP Per Capita 112 Real GDP and Inflation 113 Government Spending and Taxation 114 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 115 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 116 Data in US Dollars 117 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 118 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 119 World Energy Price Summary 120 CO2 Emissions 121 Agriculture Consumption and Production 122 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 124 Metals Consumption and Production 125 World Metals Pricing Summary 127 Economic Performance Index 128 Chapter 4 140 Investment Overview 140 Foreign Investment Climate 141 Foreign Investment Index 142 Corruption Perceptions Index 156 Competitiveness Ranking 167 Taxation 176 Stock Market 176 Partner Links 177 Chapter 5 178 Social Overview 178 People 179 Human Development Index 181 Life Satisfaction Index 185 Happy Planet Index 196 Status of Women 205 Global Gender Gap Index 209 Culture and Arts 218 Etiquette 218 Travel Information 219 Diseases/Health Data 228 Chapter 6 234 Environmental Overview 234 Environmental Issues 235 Environmental Policy 236 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 237 Global Environmental Snapshot 248 Global Environmental Concepts 259 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 273 Appendices 298 Bibliography 299 Central African Republic Chapter 1 Country Overview Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 1 of 311 pages Central African Republic Country Overview CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC The former French colony of Oubangui-Chari became the Central African Republic (CAR) upon independence in 1960. But since independence the country has seen political instability, enduring several coups, and a notorious period under a self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa. Though endowed with considerable agricultural, water and mineral resources, including deposits of gold and diamonds, decades of instability have undermined the economy. Economic development has also been negatively impacted by the country’s poor infrastructure, limited transportation, and a largely unskilled workforce. Not surprisingly, CAR remains one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries. In 2013, in the aftermath of the coup by undertaken by the Seleka rebel movement, the Central African Republic was rocked by political instability, plagued by a humanitarian crisis, and governed by a lawless cabal with a dubious human rights record. Since 2014, a brutal regime of violence has dominated the landscape of the CAR with Islamic Seleka fighters embroiled in a fight for ascendancy with Christian "anti-Balaka" rebels. That regime of violence has been marked by the horrific brutal hacking and clubbing deaths, the killing of children, and even mutilation and cannibalism, irrespective of the entrance of foreign troops charged with stabilizing the country. Of note was the fact that at the start of 2014, as many as 2,000 people had died and more than 700,000 were displaced in the CAR as a result of the chaos rocking that country. The election of Catherine Samba-Penza has only slightly stabilized the situation in CAR. Indeed, the lack of effective leadership in the CAR has sent the country on a downward slide in the direction of "failed state" distinction. Peace accords signed in 2015 in Kenya constituted one of the few notable moves intended to end the hostility. Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 2 of 311 pages Central African Republic Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 5391539 Climate: Tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers. French (official) Sangho Languages: Arabic Hunsa Swahili Currency: 1 CFAF = 100 centimes National Day 1 December (1958), Boganda Day is 29 March, Independence Holiday: Day is 13 August (1960) Area Total: 622980 Area Land: 622980 Coast Line: 0 Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 3 of 311 pages Central African Republic Central African Republic Country Map Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 4 of 311 pages Central African Republic Africa Regional Map Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 5 of 311 pages Central African Republic Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 6 of 311 pages Central African Republic Chapter 2 Political Overview Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 7 of 311 pages Central African Republic History Archeological evidence suggests that people inhabited the region that is now the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) at least 8,000 years ago, and that large social units existed in the first millennium before the common era, or B.C.E. The C.A.R. appears to have been settled from at least the 7th century on by overlapping empires, including the Kanem-Bornou, Ouaddai, Baguirmi, and Dafour groups based in Lake Chad and the Upper Nile. Later, various sultanates claimed present-day C.A.R, using the entire Oubangui region as a slave reservoir, from which slaves were traded north across the Sahara and to West Africa for export by the Europeans. Indeed, it was not until the 17th century that the slave trade brought the people of the Central African Republic into regular interaction with foreign groups. Slave traders captured people in the area, and eventually some groups living in the region became slave traders themselves. Population migration in the 18th and 19th centuries brought new migrants into the area, including the Zande, Banda, and Baya-Mandjia. In 1875 the Egyptian sultan Rabah governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day C.A.R. Europeans, primarily the French, German, and Belgians, arrived in the area in 1885. The French consolidated their legal claim to the area through an 1887 convention with Congo Free State, which granted France possession of the right bank of the Oubangui River. Two years later, the French established an outpost at Bangui, and in 1894, Oubangui-Chari became a French territory. The French did not consolidate their control over the area until 1903 after having defeated the forces of the Egyptian sultan, Rabah, and established colonial administration throughout the territory. In 1906, the Oubangui-Chari territory was united with the Chad colony; in 1910, it became one of the four territories of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (A.E.F.), along with Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon. The next 30 years were marked by smallscale revolts against French rule and the development of a plantation-style economy. Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 8 of 311 pages Central African Republic In August 1940, the territory responded, with the rest of the A.E.F., to the call from Gen. Charles de Gaulle to fight for Free France. After World War II, the French Constitution of 1946 inaugurated the first of a series of reforms that led eventually to complete independence for all French territories in western and equatorial Africa. In 1946, all A.E.F. inhabitants were granted French citizenship and allowed to establish local assemblies. The assembly in C.A.R. was led by Barthelemy Boganda, a Catholic priest who also was known for his forthright statements in the French Assembly on the need for African emancipation. In 1956, French legislation eliminated certain voting inequalities and provided for the creation of some organs of self-government in each territory. The French constitutional referendum of September 1958 dissolved the A.E.F., and on December 1 of the same year, the Assembly declared the birth of the Central African Republic with Boganda as head of government. Boganda ruled until his death in a March 1959 plane crash. His cousin, David Dacko, replaced him, governing the country until 1965 and overseeing the country's declaration of independence on August 13, 1960. Note on History: In certain entries, open source content from the State Department Background Notes and Country Guides have been used. A full listing of sources is available in the Bibliography. Political Conditions Political Chronology The 1960s through the 1990s -- On Jan. 1, 1966, following a swift and almost bloodless coup, Col. Jean-Bedel Bokassa assumed power as president of the Central African Republic. Bokassa abolished the constitution of 1959, dissolved the National Assembly, and issued a decree that placed all legislative and executive powers in the hands of the president. On Dec. 4, 1976, the republic became a monarchy with the promulgation of the imperial constitution and the proclamation of the president as Emperor Bokassa I. In a country of widespread starvation, Bokassa spent an estimated $22 million on his Central African Republic Review 2016 Page 9 of 311 pages Central African Republic own coronation, including the building of what is thought to be one of the grandest thrones ever constructed. One of Africa's most colorful leaders, Bokassa gained a dubious reputation as a megalomaniac who mirrored the likes of Idi Amin of Uganda as the worst of the African tyrants. Bokassa's eccentricities, and numerous human rights atrocities, gained him notoriety. He publicly tortured and dismembered prisoners in an effort to make an example of them, and killed anyone who threatened his authority. Rumors spread that he dined on those who tried to betray him. In 1979, Bokassa ordered that all schoolchildren wear uniforms bearing a photograph of him. When students protested, he reacted by ordering the children beaten into submission. Reportedly, Bokassa himself participated in the beatings, which killed up to 200 children. Following the 1979 beatings of the schoolchildren, relations with France deteriorated dramatically. While Bokassa was on a state visit to Libya, French paratroopers overthrew his narrow regime and restored Dacko to power on Sept.
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