Treasury systems in sub-Saharan Francophone African countries share many features with the French public expenditure management system of the 1960s on which they were modelled. However, in a different economic and institutional environment, key elements of this framework have evolved in unexpected, unwelcome directions. This paper critically examines two main features of the French system in the sub-Saharan Francophone African context: the strict separation between the person ordering payment and the one disbursing funds, and the centralisation of funds in the treasury. This examination calls attention to – and suggests remedies for – the specific flaws that have evolved from the traditional framework.