Central African Republic — Country Risk Report

Central African Republic (Africa • Central Africa). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Very high country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Central African Republic's country risk score is 7.8/10, placing it in the very high-risk band. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Central African Republic is not currently FATF grey- or black-listed. Central African Republic is not subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions. Firms should apply additional scrutiny where exposure involves state-linked entities, restricted sectors, sensitive technology, dual-use goods or politically exposed counterparties.

Recommended treatment

Enhanced due diligence.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Not currently listed (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
  • Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: programmes in place, screen applicable lists
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 7.1/10
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 24/100, rank #150 of 182
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 7.8/10 (Very high)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Strong data coverage. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

All three parts of the score are available.

How this score was calculated

  • Financial crime controls: 8.8/10 — 50% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 7.1/10 — 30% of this score
  • International sanctions: 6.4/10 — 20% of this score
  • sector-wide international sanctions sets a minimum of 6.0, but the calculated score was already higher.
Show the exact calculation

aml 8.8 × 50% + governance 7.1 × 30% + sanctions 6.4 × 20% = 7.8; sanctions-sectoral floor 6 non-binding; final 7.8

Principal risk drivers

  • Sectoral sanctions exposure
  • Corruption (WGI) — 7.9/10
  • Rule of law & institutions — 7.2/10
  • Voice & accountability — 6.6/10
  • Political stability — 6.5/10

Mitigating factors

  • Not currently on the FATF grey or black list.
  • No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
  • Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

  • Customer onboarding (Enhanced): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
  • Payments and transactions (Enhanced): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
  • Trade and export activity (Enhanced): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
  • Corporate clients (Enhanced): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
  • Ongoing monitoring (Enhanced): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

  • Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
  • Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
  • Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
  • Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
  • Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
  • Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

  • State ownership / control
  • PEP involvement
  • Sensitive / restricted sectors
  • Opaque ownership
  • Adverse media
  • Dual-use goods & technology
  • High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Not currently listed

Central African Republic is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary.

Sanctions: Sectoral

  • EU — sectoral: Restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Central African Republic (source)
  • OFAC — targeted: Central African Republic Sanctions (source)
  • UK — sectoral: Central African Republic sanctions (source)
  • UN — sectoral: 2745 Central African Republic sanctions (source)

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: Yes (Sectoral)
  • EU: Yes (Sectoral)
  • UK: Yes (Sectoral)
  • US: Yes (Targeted)

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

  • Government Effectiveness: 21/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 35/100
  • Rule of Law: 27/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via GABAC.

Last mutual evaluation: 2023 · report

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Not an Egmont Group member

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Not currently listed
  • International sanctions: sectoral exposure
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 24/100, rank #150 of 182
  • Rule of law (WGI): 7.2/10 risk

Sector exposure

  • Banking & payments (Elevated): Weak rule-of-law governance (WGI 7.2/10 risk)
  • Trade & export controls (High): Sectoral sanctions: Restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Central African Republic
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Elevated): Weak accountability governance (WGI 6.6/10 risk)
  • Real estate & luxury assets (High): Severe corruption exposure (CPI 24/100) drives laundering risk
  • State-linked & procurement (High): High state-capture risk (corruption WGI 7.9/10)

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

Central African Republic: analysis

The Central African Republic has one of the weakest governance environments in this batch; no FATF listing or sanctions apply. Corruption at a severe level (35% weight) is the most critical domain. Rule of law and institutions (40% weight) represents the largest structural risk contributor. Political stability and voice and accountability complete a picture of severe and pervasive institutional weakness. The CPI reading corroborates the deep corruption challenge facing the country.

Outlook

The Central African Republic faces severe structural governance challenges that will be difficult to address in the near to medium term. The absence of a FATF listing does not reduce the inherent AML/CFT risk, which is driven by institutional fragility rather than assessed technical compliance failures. Risk is unlikely to improve materially without sustained political stabilisation and institutional capacity-building.

Key watchpoints

  • Corruption (WGI) at a severe level, the highest-risk domain and a core driver of financial crime exposure.
  • Rule of law and institutions at a severe level, the most heavily weighted domain and principal governance driver.
  • Political stability at an elevated level, which if it deteriorates could further erode institutional capacity.
  • Any FATF engagement or listing decision, given the severity of underlying governance weaknesses.

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Not listed (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: Targeted programmes in place (as of Jul 2026)
  • Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
  • Corruption (CPI): 24/100 (as of 2025)
  • RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: none. No FATF call-for-action or increased-monitoring status was identified at the latest plenary. This does not establish low risk.

Contextual signals (not scored)

  • FATF network membership: FATF regional network: GABAC (present, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: No Egmont member FIU identified (absent, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Beneficial-ownership register: No live register identified in the source (unavailable, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Transparency International CPI: 24/100, rank 150 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

  • FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
  • FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31; follow-up 2023-11; base assessment 2023-11
  • World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
  • UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-16

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

FAQ

Is Central African Republic on the FATF grey list?

No. Central African Republic is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary. FATF listing is one AML indicator; absence from the list does not by itself make Central African Republic low risk. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Central African Republic subject to sanctions?

Partly. Central African Republic has sectoral sanctions exposure rather than a comprehensive country-wide programme. Firms should screen applicable persons, entities and sectors against the OFAC, UK, EU and UN lists.

What is Central African Republic's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Central African Republic at 7.8/10 (Very high risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Central African Republic 24/100 (rank #150 of 182).

What due diligence applies to Central African Republic?

Enhanced due diligence. This is decision-support based on Central African Republic's FATF status, governance and sanctions signals, and is not a substitute for a firm's own risk assessment.

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)