Hundreds of people marched through heavy rain in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Friday, November 13, protesting rising fuel prices and the cost of living and demanding the release of five civil society leaders who have been in detention since October, AFP journalists reported.
Source: AFP, Nov 13, 2026 (via The Nigerian News)
The march was called by the Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution (BRDC), an opposition coalition. Motorcycle taxi drivers, traders, residents and civil society groups joined the demonstration, carrying placards reading "A hungry belly has no ears" and "We are all equal in the face of the high cost of living", according to AFP.
What the protesters are demanding
Petrol now sells for more than 1,100 CFA francs a litre in the Central African Republic — yaani about $1.85 a litre — and the coalition wants the price brought back down to 850 CFA francs, yaani about $1.43 a litre. BRDC spokesman Martin Ziguele said fuel prices had been increased three times within a year, while the monthly minimum wage of 35,000 CFA francs (about $59) had stayed unchanged for more than 30 years.
Source: AFP, Nov 13, 2026 (via The Nigerian News)
"Central Africans can no longer afford to live," BRDC member Samson Ngaibino told Africanews, calling on President Faustin-Archange Touadera to act. The bloc's coordinator, Crepin Mboli-Goumba, said the country's fuel price is the highest in the CFA franc zone and insisted the government must bring it back to 850 francs.
Source: Africanews, Nov 14, 2026 (via Know Afrika)
The five detained leaders were arrested on October 15, days after the BRDC called a citywide shutdown of Bangui on October 12 against an earlier fuel-price rise. The coalition says their continued detention has spread fear and discouraged people from speaking out.
Government called the march illegal — then it went ahead peacefully
The government had earlier declared the planned protest illegal, and government spokesperson Evarest Ngamana urged citizens, especially young people, not to take part. The march nevertheless went ahead and was escorted by UN peacekeepers from MINUSCA and Central African police, with no major incidents reported, according to the AGP news agency reporting on RFI's coverage.
Source: AGP / RFI, Nov 14, 2026
President Touadera, who was sworn in for a third term in March, has attributed the fuel-price increases to rising oil costs on international markets and has said the government can no longer subsidise fuel. The hikes, introduced since the beginning of October, have pushed up transport and food costs in one of the world's poorest countries, on top of shortages already caused by insecurity and logistics problems.
The BRDC has given the government two or three weeks to respond to its demands on fuel prices and the detained activists, warning that it will otherwise act together with the young people already discussing the crisis on social media.
Friday's march was the opposition coalition's first major public demonstration since last month's citywide shutdown. What happens next depends on whether the government opens talks on pump prices before the coalition's deadline expires — and whether the five detained civil society leaders are released.