Evaluation de la coopération de la Commission européenne avec la République centrafricaine : Evaluation de niveau national ; Rapport final ; Volume 1: Rapport principal

The period covered by the evaluation, 1996-2007, was a time of political-military crises and worsening poverty and insecurity for the Central African Republic. This continued the trend which started immediately after Independence and which led the Central African Republic into a situation of chronic structural crisis. The management of the revenues from the exploitation of the local natural resources by the country’s leaders only benefited the very few. Over the reporting period the human development indicators worsened, and no sustainable economic growth was generated by the private sector. Hardly any new infrastructures were developed, and those that existed continuously deteriorated. The country remained almost fully dependent on Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows, which have gradually become scarcer with the increase in military conflicts and political crises. Systematic ODA flows were not reinstated until 2005 in the wake of the elections that followed the coup d’état of 2003. For years the European Commission was therefore faced with a large number of challenges, with an obligation to react rapidly and put in place responses both adapted to the country’s needs and consistent with Community rules. Between 1997 and 2007, the Commission mobilised €128m - that is €28 per inhabitant. More than two-thirds (68%) of disbursements were for macroeconomic support (€52.5m) and transport (€35.1m).