The CFA franc, Chad’s financial currency, can cause some real dizziness as you try to figure it out.  The CFA historically stood for something close to “Colonies of French Africa”, but has changed titles to more politically palatable and accurate terms in the past decades (something like “Financial Community of Africa”).  The CFA franc’s value is calculated off of the Euro.  Here is what the money looks like:

In the past year, the CFA franc’s value has shifted between 430 – 550 francs to 1 US dollar.  So, that 500 franc bill you see above is about equal to a one dollar bill in America.

But, here is where things become difficult.  The common people (basically, everyone) do not count by francs.  Instead they count by riyals, the historical currency of the Middle East.  Since, the relationship of CFA francs to riyals was 5 to 1 sometime in the past, this is the way they speak about the money still today.  So, that 500 franc bill you see above is actually called 100.  And the 1,000 franc bill is actually called 200.

All the multiplying and dividing by 5 in your head, while your trying to translate the Arabic you just heard, can make you pretty dizzy, but it’s a necessary task for everyday purchases and life here.