Editing Central African Republic (section)

== Economy ==
{{main|Economy of the Central African Republic}}
[[File:Central African Republic Product Exports (2019).svg|upright=1.3|thumb|right|A proportional representation of Central African Republic exports, 2019]]
[[File:Central African Republic GDP Per Capita 1960-2022.png|thumb|GDP per capita (2022 USD)]]
[[File:Bangui Shopping District.jpg|thumb|[[Bangui]] shopping district]]

The [[per capita income]] of the Republic is often listed as being approximately $400 a year, [[List of countries by GNI (PPP) per capita|one of the lowest in the world]], but this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores the unregistered sale of foods, locally produced [[alcoholic beverage]]s, [[diamond]]s, [[ivory]], [[bushmeat]], and [[traditional medicine]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|date=19 June 2019|title=Central African Republic – Systematic Country Diagnostic : Priorities for Ending Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity|url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/459721563221464687/Central-African-Republic-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic-Priorities-for-Ending-Poverty-and-Boosting-Shared-Prosperity|journal=[[The World Bank]]|language=en|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=1–96|via=documents.worldbank.org/|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=27 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227210354/http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/459721563221464687/Central-African-Republic-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic-Priorities-for-Ending-Poverty-and-Boosting-Shared-Prosperity|url-status=live}}</ref>

The currency of the Central African Republic is the [[Central African CFA franc|CFA franc]], which is accepted across the former countries of [[French West Africa]] and trades at a fixed rate to the euro. Diamonds constitute the country's most important export, accounting for 40–55% of export revenues, but it is estimated that between 30% and 50% of those produced each year leave the country clandestinely.<ref name=":2" /> On 27 April 2022,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as legal currency |url=https://news.yahoo.com/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-104407031.html |access-date=28 April 2022 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US |archive-date=27 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427115523/https://news.yahoo.com/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-104407031.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bitcoin]] (BTC) was adopted as an additional legal tender. Lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made Bitcoin legal tender alongside the CFA franc and legalized the use of cryptocurrencies. President [[Faustin-Archange Touadéra]] signed the measure into law, said his chief of staff Obed Namsio. After an [[Extraordinary general meeting|extraordinary meeting]] on 6 May 2022, COBAC published DECISION D-071-2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=COBAC - Decision COBAC D-071-2022 on cryptocurrency |url=http://41.159.136.90/jcms/prodinternet_13698/en/decision-cobac-d-071-2022-relative-a-la-cryptomonnaie }}{{Dead link|date=April 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in which it banned the use of crypto currency. It subsequently repealed its status as legal tender.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions on Central African Republic |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/CAF/central-african-republic-qandas |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=International Monetary Fund |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811051838/https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/CAF/central-african-republic-qandas |url-status=live }}</ref>

Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as [[cassava]], [[peanut]]s, [[maize]], [[sorghum]], [[millet]], [[sesame]], and [[Plantain (cooking)|plantain]]. The annual [[Economic growth|growth rate]] of real GDP is slightly above 3%. The importance of food crops over exported [[cash crops]] is indicated by the fact that the total production of cassava, the staple food of most Central Africans, ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 [[tonnes]] a year, while the production of [[cotton]], the principal exported cash crop, ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 tonnes a year. Food crops are not exported in large quantities, but still constitute the principal cash crops of the country because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus food crops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee.<ref name=":2" /> Much of the country is self-sufficient in food crops; however, [[livestock]] development is hindered by the presence of the [[tsetse fly]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gouteux|first1=J. P.|last2=Blanc|first2=F.|last3=Pounekrozou|first3=E.|last4=Cuisance|first4=D.|last5=Mainguet|first5=M.|last6=D'Amico|first6=F.|last7=Le Gall|first7=F.|date=1994|title=Tsetse and livestock in Central African Republic: retreat of Glossina morsitans submorsitans (Diptera, Glossinidae)|journal=Bulletin de la Société de Pathologie Exotique|volume=87|issue=1|pages=52–56|issn=0037-9085|pmid=8003908}}</ref>

The Republic's primary import partner is France (17.1%). Other imports come from the United States (12.3%), India (11.5%), and China (8.2%). Its largest export partner is France (31.2%), followed by [[Burundi]] (16.2%), China (12.5%), [[Cameroon]] (9.6%), and Austria (7.8%).<ref name=CIA/>

The Central African Republic is a member of the [[Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa]] (OHADA). In the 2009 [[World Bank Group]]'s report ''Doing Business'', it was ranked 183rd out of 183 as regards 'ease of doing business', a [[Composite (finance)|composite index]] which takes into account regulations that 'enhance' business activity and those that restrict it.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Doing Business 2010. Central African Republic|publisher=International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; The World Bank|year= 2009|isbn=978-0-8213-7961-5|doi=10.1596/978-0-8213-7961-5 }}</ref>

=== Infrastructure ===
==== Transportation ====
{{Main|Transportation in the Central African Republic}}
[[File:Central African Republic - Trucks in Bangui.jpg|thumb|Trucks in [[Bangui]]]]
Two trans-African automobile routes pass through the Central African Republic: the [[Tripoli-Cape Town Highway]] and the [[Lagos-Mombasa Highway]]. Bangui is the transport hub of the Central African Republic. As of 1999, eight roads connected the city to other main towns in the country, [[Cameroon]], Chad, and [[South Sudan]]; of these, only the toll roads are paved. During the rainy season from July to October, some roads are impassable.<ref name=e200>[[#Eur|Eur]], pp. 200–202</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author1=Graham Booth|author2=G. R McDuell|author3=John Sears|title=World of Science: 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEfzrFNicNkC&pg=PA57|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-914698-7|page=57|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905084424/https://books.google.com/books?id=IEfzrFNicNkC&pg=PA57|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

River [[ferry|ferries]] sail from the [[river port]] at Bangui to [[Brazzaville]] and [[Zongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Zongo]]. The river can be navigated most of the year between Bangui and Brazzaville. From Brazzaville, goods are transported by rail to [[Pointe-Noire]], Congo's Atlantic port.<ref name=Finanace>
{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/102152/Central-African-Republic/40691/Finance-and-trade|title=Central African Republic: Finance and trade|access-date=31 March 2013|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414234742/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/102152/Central-African-Republic/40691/Finance-and-trade|archive-date=14 April 2013|url-status=live}}
</ref> The river port handles the overwhelming majority of the country's international trade and has a cargo handling capacity of 350,000 tons; it has {{Convert|350|m}} length of [[wharfs]] and {{Convert|24000|m2}} of warehousing space.<ref name=e200/>

[[Bangui M'Poko International Airport]] is Central African Republic's only international airport. As of June 2014 it had regularly scheduled direct flights to [[Maya-Maya Airport|Brazzaville]], [[Mohammed V International Airport|Casablanca]], [[Cadjehoun Airport|Cotonou]], [[Douala International Airport|Douala]], [[N'djili Airport|Kinshasa]], [[Lomé-Tokoin Airport|Lomé]], [[Quatro de Fevereiro Airport|Luanda]], [[Malabo International Airport|Malabo]], [[N'Djamena International Airport|N'Djamena]], [[Paris-Charles de Gaulle|Paris]], [[Pointe Noire Airport|Pointe-Noire]], and [[Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport|Yaoundé]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Since at least 2002 there have been plans to connect Bangui by [[Rail transport|rail]] to the [[Transcameroon Railway]].<ref>[[#Eur|Eur]], p. 185</ref>

==== Energy ====
{{See also|List of power stations in the Central African Republic}}
The Central African Republic primarily uses [[hydroelectricity]] as there are few other low cost resources for generating electricity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.andritz.com/hydro-en/hydronews/hydropower-africa/central-africa|title=Hydropower in Central Africa – Hydro News Africa – ANDRITZ HYDRO|website=www.andritz.com|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=27 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227210353/https://www.andritz.com/hydro-en/hydronews/hydropower-africa/central-africa|url-status=live}}</ref> Access to electricity is very limited with 15.6% of the total population having electrification, 34.6% in urban areas and 1.5% in rural areas.<ref name="WorldFactbook">{{cite web |title=Central African Republic Energy |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/central-african-republic/#energy |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=16 September 2023 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211128/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ct.html#energy |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Communications ====
{{Main|Communications in the Central African Republic}}
Presently, the Central African Republic has active television services, radio stations, [[internet service providers]], and [[Mobile network operator|mobile phone carriers]]; [[Socatel]] is the leading provider for both internet and mobile phone access throughout the country. The primary governmental regulating bodies of telecommunications are the Ministère des Postes and Télécommunications et des Nouvelles Technologies. In addition, the Central African Republic receives international support on telecommunication related operations from [[ITU-D|ITU Telecommunication Development Sector]] (ITU-D) within the [[International Telecommunication Union]] to improve infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regulatory-Market/Pages/RA_Portal/RA_AFR.aspx|title=Regional Regulatory Associations in Africa|website=www.itu.int|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=27 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227210353/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regulatory-Market/Pages/RA_Portal/RA_AFR.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>