BANK OF CENTRAL AFRICAN STATES

The central bank serving the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). CEMAC consists of six countries, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo, and it is a member of the larger African Economic Community.

BEAC's responsibilities as a central bank include overseeing the monetary system and issuing currency. BEAC's official currency is the Central African CFA franc, which had an exchange rate that was formerly fixed to the French franc but is now fixed to the euro.

Established in 1972, the bank's official name is Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC). In late 2010, Lucas Abaga Nchama of Equatorial Guinea became the bank's new leader, after a 2009 embezzlement scandal that cost the bank $28 million and lost Philibert Andzembe of Gabon his position as head of the bank.