The Central African Press Agency (Agence Centrafricaine de Presse, ACAP) is the official state news agency of the Central African Republic. Established in 1960, it only began producing regular content in the 1970s. In 2012, ACAP was formally restructured and integrated into the Ministry of Communication and Media. As of mid-2025, the agency operates with a skeletal staff of just 10 employees and continues to face chronic resource shortages.
Media assets
News agency: ACAP
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
ACAP functions as a directorate within the Ministry of Communication and Media, and its governance reflects this subordinate status. Recruitment is not governed by an independent or competitive process; instead, hiring decisions are made at the discretion of ministry officials. The agency has no governing board or statutory guarantees of editorial autonomy, and its operations remain firmly tethered to the ministerial hierarchy.
Source of funding and budget
There is no publicly disclosed budget for ACAP. All financial support comes directly through the Ministry of Communication and Media’s central allocation. Since its 2012 reorganization, ACAP has lacked institutional independence or a distinct budget line, operating instead as a dependent unit within the ministry. There is no known revenue-generating activity or independent financial management structure within the agency.
Editorial independence
Although ACAP is nominally a press agency, it operates primarily as a digital platform that curates and republishes official narratives. Its output overwhelmingly consists of content that promotes and echoes government activities and messaging. The site serves less as a news wire and more as a communication channel for state institutions.
There is no legal framework defining or protecting ACAP’s editorial independence, nor has any independent evaluation mechanism been identified to assess the integrity or impartiality of its reporting. In practice, ACAP functions more as an arm of government public relations than as an autonomous journalistic entity.
In February 2025, ACAP signed its first-ever cooperation agreement with Russia’s Sputnik news agency, facilitated by the Russian embassy in Bangui. The deal pledges content exchange and joint projects, aimed at expanding ACAP’s reach and enhancing its news coverage—especially regarding Russian affairs.
June 2025