Data-center law in Central African Republic

Loi n° 07.018 du 28 décembre 2007 portant Code de l'Environnement de la République Centrafricaine, arts. 34, 87

Applies to both

Article 1 sets the Code's purpose as defining the legal framework for environmental management, and article 34 requires that any allocation or development of land for agricultural, industrial, urban, or other purposes, or any work exploiting subsurface resources, that risks harming the Central African environment undergo an environmental-impact study or a prior authorisation, with content and procedure fixed by regulation.

Article 87 restates the same duty for any development project or physical works that risk harming the environment, requiring a prior impact study authorised by the Minister in charge of the Environment. A data-centre project's construction and power draw would fall within this general prior-authorisation and impact-study duty, though the Code names no digital-infrastructure or data-centre category specifically.

The Code's final article states only that the law will be registered and published in the Official Gazette, without stating the day it took effect.

Source: Full text of law

Ordonnance n° 05.001 du 1er janvier 2005 portant Code de l'Electricité de la République Centrafricaine, art. 1er

Applies to both

Article 1 establishes the common rules for producing, transporting, distributing, importing, exporting, and selling electrical energy in the Central African Republic. It also defines the organisation and operation of the electricity sector, including market access, the criteria and procedures for tenders and the grant of authorisations, and network operation.

A regulator, the Agence Autonome de Régulation du Secteur de l'Electricité (ARSEC), created under the Code, regulates and monitors the sector, enforces tariff and licensing rules, and can sanction operators; a large electricity consumer such as a data centre connecting to or drawing from the national grid, or self-generating at scale, falls within this licensing and market-access framework. No located source states the day the Code itself, as distinct from later implementing decrees, entered into force.

Source: Full text of law

Loi n° 01-010 du 16 juillet 2001 portant Charte des Investissements, République Centrafricaine

Applies to both

The Charter sets the general legal, economic, and institutional framework for national and foreign investment, applying to industrial enterprises and SMEs across a list of activities that includes manufacturing, energy production, telecommunications and electronics installation and maintenance, and research; forestry, mining, and tourism are carved out to their own regimes.

A newly created industrial or processing enterprise that presents a three-to-five-year investment programme, keeps regular accounts, and obtains an agreement (agrément) from the Ministry in charge of Industry qualifies for customs relief and a corporate-income-tax exemption for three years (five years above FCFA 1 billion invested), scaled to the size of the investment, plus additional exemption periods for a facility located outside Bangui.

The Charter guarantees against expropriation without fair compensation, guarantees the free transfer of capital and income for a non-resident investor, and routes investor-State disputes to OHADA's Common Court of Justice and Arbitration or the ICSID Convention. A data-centre investment could qualify under this general regime if it fits one of the listed activities and obtains the ministerial agreement; the Charter does not name data centres or digital infrastructure specifically.

Source: Full text of law