There are 41 central banks in Africa. While each of the independent countries has an apex bank of its own, two currency unions are associated with multinational central banks.
The multinational apex banks are: West African Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) and the Central African Banque des États de l’Afrique Centrale (BEAC).
The members of BCEAO and BEAC use the CFA Franc as their legal tender, which some people call economic attachment with France, their colonial master.
The Central Bank of a politically independent country is so important that the former Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah in 1961 says, “our political independence will be worthless unless we use it to obtain economic and financial self-government and independence.”
As such, after gaining independence, most of the countries in Africa had to fight another battle: establishing their own apex bank to make macroeconomic policies to boost production.
For instance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is in charge of minting naira and plays other economic and financial roles.
As such, the 41 central banks in Africa play a regulatory role in the financial system of their country by regulating the supply, availability and cost of money in their jurisdiction.
Central banks are bankers’ banks. They regulate the activities of other financial institutions in their country.
Some of the other responsibilities of a central bank include the issuance of legal tender; maintenance of external reserves; making public financial and economic statistics of a country to boost foreign investors’ confidence and acting as financial advisers to the ruling government among other things.
In this post, we compiled a list of central banks in Africa, their year of establishment, their legal name and the official websites of African Central Banks.
Security note: Pay attention to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) of the websites listed in this article.
Because HTTPS is used for secure communication over a computer network and we believe that the URL of a central bank of any country should implement a high level of security on their website
List of African Central Banks
| Country | Legal Names | Official website | Year of Establishment |
| Ethiopia | National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) | https://nbe.gov.et/ | 1963 |
| Egypt | Central Bank of Egypt | https://www.cbe.org.eg/ | 1898 |
| South Africa | South African Reserve Bank | https://www.resbank.co.za/ | June 30, 1921 |
| Tanzania | Bank of Tanzania | https://www.bot.go.tz/ | 1966 |
| Kenya | Central Bank of Kenya | https://www.centralbank.go.ke/ | 1966 |
| Algeria | Banque d’Algérie | https://www.bank-of-algeria.dz/ | 1962 |
| Uganda | Bank of Uganda | https://www.bou.or.ug/ | 1966 |
| Sudan | Central Bank of Sudan | https://cbos.gov.sd/ | 1960 |
| Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) | https://www.cbn.gov.ng | March 1958 |
| Morocco | Bank Al-Maghrib | https://www.bkam.ma/ | 1959 |
| Angola | Banco Nacional de Angola | https://www.bna.ao/ | 1926 |
| Ghana | Bank of Ghan | https://www.bog.gov.gh/ | 1957 |
| Bank of Central African States Members: 1. Cameroon 2. Central African Republic 3. Chad, 4. Equatorial Guinea 5. Gabon 6. Republic of Congo | Banque des États de l’Afrique Centrale (BEAC) | https://www.beac.int/ | 1972 |
| Madagascar | Banky Foiben’i Madagasikara | website down at time of publication | 1974 |
| Mozambique | Banco de Moçambique | https://www.bancomoc.mz/ | May 17, 1975 |
| Central Bank of West African States Member states: 1. Benin republic 2. Burkina Faso 3. Côte d’Ivoire 4. Guinea Bissau 5. Mali 6. Niger republic 7. Senegal 8. Togo | Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) | https://www.bceao.int/ | May 12, 1962 |
| Malawi | Reserve Bank of Malawi | https://www.rbm.mw/ | July 1964 |
| Somalia | Central Bank of Somalia | https://centralbank.gov.so/ | June 30, 1960 |
| Zimbabwe | Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe | https://www.rbz.co.zw/ | March 1956 |
| Rwanda | National Bank of Rwanda | https://www.bnr.rw/ | 1964 |
| Republic of Guinea | Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée (BCRG) | https://www.bcrg-guinee.org/ | 1960 |
| Tunisia | Central Bank of Tunisia | https://www.bct.gov.tn/bct/siteprod/index.jsp | September 19, 1958 |
| South Sudan | Bank of South Sudan | https://www.boss.gov.ss/ | July 2011 |
| Libya | Central Bank of Libya | https://cbl.gov.ly/en/ | April 1, 1956 |
| Sierra Leone | Bank of Sierra Leone | https://www.bsl.gov.sl/ | March 27, 1963 |
| Burundi | Banque de la République du Burundi | https://www.brb.bi/en | April 9, 1964 |
| Liberia | Central Bank of Liberia | 1999 | |
| Mauritania | Banque Centrale de Mauritanie | https://www.bcm.mr/ | 1973 |
| Eritrea | Bank of Eritrea | ||
| Namibia | Bank of Namibia | https://www.bon.com.na/ | July 9, 1990 |
| The Gambia | Central Bank of The Gambia | https://www.cbg.gm/ | 1971 |
| Botswana | Bank of Botswana | https://www.bankofbotswana.bw/ | July 1, 1975 |
| Lesotho | Central bank of Lesotho | https://www.centralbank.org.ls/ | 1978 |
| Mauritius | Bank of Mauritius | https://www.bom.mu/ | September 1967 |
| Eswatini | Central Bank of Eswatini | https://www.centralbank.org.sz/ | April 1974 |
| Djibouti | Banque Centrale de Djibouti | https://banque-centrale.dj/ | April 18, 1979 |
| Comoros | Central Bank of the Comoros | http://www.banque-comores.km/index.php | 1981 |
| Cape Verde | Banco de Cabo Verde | https://www.bcv.cv/en/Pages/Homepage.aspx | September 29, 1975 |
| Zambia | Bank of Zambia | https://www.boz.zm/ | August 7, 1964 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe | www.bcstp.st Insecure website (use with caution) | May 24, 1975 |
| Seychelles | Central Bank of Seychelles | https://www.cbs.sc/ | January 1, 1983 |
What is the oldest central bank in Africa?
The oldest central bank in Africa is the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Egypt’s apex bank has been in existence since 1898.
What is the youngest Central Bank in Africa?
The Bank of South Sudan is the youngest African central bank because is the World’s youngest country.
It gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. South Sudan set up its central bank the same month it gained independence.
How many apex banks are in Africa?
There are 41 central banks across the continent