5000 Francs

The BCEAO was established in 1959 as the successor monetary authority to the Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française, with this series among its earliest high-denomination issues — printed before several of the newly independent member states had even completed their constitutional frameworks. The rotating cast of signatories reflects that instability directly: each pairing represents a different member country's designated official alongside the central directorate, meaning the same note type circulated across Senegal, Upper Volta, Togo, Ivory Coast, and others simultaneously, distinguished only by signature combination.

Robert Julienne's persistent presence across all signature variants through 1965 anchors the continuity of French technical oversight during the transition period. Abdoulaye Fadiga, who eventually succeeded to the directorship, appears only in the final 1965 pairings.