Double Debt: Did the French State Benefit from the Sum Paid by Haiti?

The French Treasury may have profited from the double debt of Haitian independence. This, at least, is what is revealed by certain documents reviewed by Pierre-Yves Bocquet, Deputy Chair of the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery (FME) and former memory advisor to French President François Hollande. These documents were found in the archives of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). Mr. Bocquet provided a detailed account of this discovery as this year marks the bicentennial of the double debt imposed on Haiti.

Jonasson Odigène
Par Jonasson Odigène
04 Apr 2025 | Lecture : 4 min.

In 1825, France demanded that Haiti pay 150 million gold francs—later reduced to 90 million—in exchange for the recognition of its independence. To meet this demand, the Haitian state was forced to take out loans from French banks to pay the sum, which was intended as compensation to former colonists. This gave rise to what is now referred to as the “double debt.”

This week, a report by Pierre-Yves Bocquet revealed a new aspect of this double debt. A portion of the money Haiti paid to France under the "

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