Africanists have written much about interactions between multiple currencies in Africa, yet paperwork-based regulations that apply to these interactions remain less studied. Meanwhile, ethnographic studies of paperwork examine the roles of documents more in state administration than in commercial transactions. Based on ethnographic research with individuals and institutions involved in the international transfer of the franc CFA in Congo-Brazzaville during a severe foreign exchange (forex) shortage from 2016 to 2021, this article argues that the participants in forex transactions manoeuvre paperwork to regulate the speed of the forex outflow – where paperwork functions as what I term ‘bureaucratic valves’. Responding to the outflow of forex caused by the oil price slump since 2015, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) required numerous documents from buyers of forex to justify their demand. This policy slowed down international money transfers because it took more effort to meet the paperwork requirements. Yet banks, money-transfer agencies and individuals in Congo subsequently developed their own paperwork-based mechanisms to cope with this change. These manoeuvres show that paperwork is a flexible and essential tool for adjusting transactions for different participants, especially in the money markets and in (central) banking in Africa.

非洲人写了很多关于非洲多种货币之间相互作用的文章，但适用于这些相互作用的基于文书工作的法规仍然很少被研究。同时，文书工作的民族志研究更多地考察了文件在国家行政中的作用，而不是在商业交易中的作用。本文基于对 2016 年至 2021 年严重外汇（外汇）短缺期间刚果-布拉柴维尔法郎 CFA 国际转移的个人和机构的人种学研究，认为外汇交易的参与者操纵文书工作以调节速度外汇流出——文书工作就像我所说的“官僚阀门”。应对2015年以来油价暴跌导致的外汇外流，中非国家银行 (BEAC) 要求外汇买家提供大量文件来证明他们的需求是合理的。这项政策减缓了国际汇款的速度，因为它需要更多的努力来满足文书工作的要求。然而，刚果的银行、汇款机构和个人随后开发了自己的基于文书工作的机制来应对这一变化。这些操作表明，文书工作是调整不同参与者交易的灵活且必不可少的工具，尤其是在货币市场和非洲（中央）银行业务中。刚果的汇款机构和个人随后开发了自己的基于文书工作的机制来应对这一变化。这些操作表明，文书工作是调整不同参与者交易的灵活且必不可少的工具，尤其是在货币市场和非洲（中央）银行业务中。刚果的汇款机构和个人随后开发了自己的基于文书工作的机制来应对这一变化。这些操作表明，文书工作是调整不同参与者交易的灵活且必不可少的工具，尤其是在货币市场和非洲（中央）银行业务中。