100 Francs

The Banque Centrale du Congo designation itself dates only to 1997, when Laurent-Désiré Kabila's government renamed both the country and its central bank after ousting Mobutu Sese Seko. Notes issued under this name therefore carry the implicit history of a transition from Zaire — a state whose currency had collapsed so spectacularly through the 1990s that new franc denominations were introduced at a conversion rate of 100,000 old zaïres to one franc in 1998.

Printed at the Hôtel des Monnaies in Kinshasa, this issue relies on relatively modest security — watermark and thread only — which reflects the facility's limitations rather than any deliberate policy choice.