Money and duty free for Chad

Currency and Money

Currency information

CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) Franc (XAF) = 100 centimes. Notes are in denominations of XAF10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000 and 500. Coins are in denominations of XAF250, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1.

Chad is part of the French Monetary Area. Only currency issued by the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (Bank of Central African States) is valid; currency issued by the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (Bank of West African States) is not. The CFA Franc is tied to the Euro.

Credit cards

Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are accepted at two hotels in N'Djaména. It may not be possible to obtain cash advances at banks on credit cards.

Travellers cheques

May be exchanged at one or two banks in N'Djaména. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take traveller's cheques in Euros.

Banking hours

Mon-Sat 0700-1300, Fri 0700-1030.

Currency restrictions

There are no restrictions on the import of local currency; visitors can export up to XAF10,000. There are no restrictions on importing foreign currency providing it is declared on arrival; up to the amount of foreign currency imported and declared can be exported.

Currency exchange

It is advisable to bring US Dollars or Euros rather than Sterling into the country. CFA Francs can be difficult to exchange outside the French Monetary Area.

Chad duty free

Overview

The following goods may be imported into Chad by travellers over 18 years of age without incurring customs duty:

• 400 cigarettes (or cigarillos) or 125 cigars or 500g of tobacco (women are permitted to import cigarettes only).
• 3 bottles of wine and 1 bottle of spirits.

There is free export of 1,000 cigarettes or 250 cigars or 1kg of tobacco.