50 Francs

The Banque d'Emission du Rwanda et du Burundi was a transitional institution, created in 1960 to manage currency for two territories moving rapidly toward independence — Rwanda in 1962, Burundi the same year. This 1964 note is a late issue: by the time it was printed, both countries had been sovereign for two years and were already preparing their own separate central banks. Rwanda replaced the shared currency in 1964 with its own franc; Burundi followed almost simultaneously.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement was typical of the period's anglophone printing contracts extending into francophone Africa, a practical consequence of who held press capacity rather than political alignment.