Djibouti - 40 Francs 2017 40th Year of Independence

Djibouti - Anniversaire de la 40ème Année de l'Indépendance
 Djibouti - 40th Year of Independence Anniversary

The Republic of Djibouti was once a colony of France and independent came on 27.06.1977. Djibouti is a small country with a population of around 1.0M people. Djibouti is also a member of the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organisation of African Unity. The capital of Djibouti is also called Djibouti.

This note, issued in late November 2017,  celebrates the nation's 40th Anniversary of Independence from France 1977-2017 (40eme Anniversaire de L’Independence). On the front, it features a whale shark swimming along the colourful coral reef. The whale sharks can be seen along the coast of Djibouti throughout the year and become more common between the months October to February. On the back is the aerial view of Port of Djibouti with three cargo ships and loading cranes. The note is also printed with the Anniversary logo with the flag of Djibouti and the map of Djibouti too. The year date of 2017 is also printed vertically on the back.

Whilst the design of this note is very beautiful, I wonder why they picked the whale shark as the main feature. What has the whale shark got to do with the nation's independence? The note depicts the whale shark swimming along the coral reef and is surrounded by shadows/images of fishes including
star fishes, shark egg case and a seahorse. I may be wrong but at least one of the fishes looks more like a fresh water (domestic) type of fish. This note looks more like one of those novelty or fake note or homemade type especially on the front, like those ever increasing fake notes popping out every
now and then. I am still wondering why a denomination of 40 Francs and not a higher value as the 1000 Francs is the smallest note circulating in the country. The face value of this note is less that US$0.25!!

I wonder if the DJ prefix is a replacement note? 

The signature on the note belongs to the Governor, Ahmed Osman Ali (acting). He has been on the job following the sudden death of the previous Governor Jama Mahmoud Haid in 2013.

Forty Francs

Dated 2017, AA Prefix

Dated 2017, DJ Prefix

Reverse

Note: When I first saw this note, I could not believe that this is a genuine banknote. The design is very difference from current serious of banknotes. Obviously this could be that this note was printed by a difference security printing company. Then the nominal value of 40 francs? Why not 400 or 4,000 francs instead? There are so many "home made" pictured banknotes today that one has to wonder if this is a real stuff!