100 Francs

The BCEAO was established in 1959 as the successor to the Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française, and this 100 Francs series was among the first issued under the new central bank's authority — coinciding almost exactly with the independence declarations of French West Africa's constituent territories between 1960 and 1961. The rotating cast of left-hand signatories reflects that transition directly: each represents a different newly sovereign member state's appointed governor, cycling through as political authority was redistributed across Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and their neighbors.

Robert Julienne held the right-hand position as Director General throughout the full run — a continuity that speaks to how much institutional infrastructure remained French in practice even after formal independence.