History of CAR: Before 2012

The Central African Republic has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the world’s least-developed countries.  France had first annexed the area in the 1880’s. 

CAR has endured several coups and a notorious period under the self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who headed a brutal regime from 1965 to 1979.

Bokassa was overthrown in a coup led by David Dacko, which was backed by French commandos.  After just two years Dacko was toppled by Andre Kolingba, who eventually allowed multi-party presidential elections and was duly rejected in the first round.

Mr Kolingba's successor, Ange-Felix Patasse, had to contend with serious unrest, which culminated in riots and looting in 1997 by unpaid soldiers.

When the French pulled out that year, there were fears of a power vacuum, so France financed a group of French-speaking African countries to create a peacekeeping force. That force was then transformed into the UN Mission to the Central African Republic – MINURCA.

In 1999 Mr Patasse beat nine other candidates to become president again, but there were allegations of electoral fraud. He was overthrown in a coup in 2003 and went into exile in Togo.

Some progress towards stabilising the country was made between 2008 and 2012, before the Seleka rebel alliance marched south and captured the capital in March 2013, ousting President Francois Bozize.  (See above).

Subsistence agriculture, along with forestry and mining, have been the backbone of the country’s economy.  Timber and diamonds account for most exports, followed by cotton.  Constraints on economic development have been CAR’s landlocked position, poor infrastructure, a largely unskilled labour force, and a legacy of misdirected economic policies.