Emperor of Central Africa

Emperor of Central Africa (French: Empereur de Centrafrique) was the title used by Jean-Bédel Bokassa (as Bokassa I) from 4 December 1976 until his deposal in a French coup in September 1979. Bokassa, who had already ruled the Central African Republic (CAR) as a military dictator since taking power in the 1966 coup d'état, was officially crowned on 4 December 1977 in a lavish ceremony that was estimated to cost the Central African Empire US$20 million (equivalent to $104 million in 2024). Although nominally a constitutional monarch, in practice Bokassa ruled with absolute power. For all intents and purposes, the country was still a military dictatorship, as had been the case with the CAR.

Bokassa I attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa "stand out" from the rest of the continent, and earn the world's respect. The coronation consumed one third of the nation's annual budget and all of the French aid that year; France also supplied substantial material support to the ceremony from both public and private sources. Despite generous invitations, no foreign leaders attended the event, although delegations were present, such as Robert Galley and René Journiac for France.

His rapprochement to Muammar Gaddafi and his widely publicized repression of internal dissent (culminating in the 1979 Ngaragba Prison massacre) created a rift between Bokassa and the French. The latter decided to depose him through a coup by intelligence service SDECE, codenamed Operation Caban, which took place on 19-20 September 1979. Former president David Dacko was reinstalled and abolished the imperial title.