History of Djamena

During the Second World War, the French relied heavily upon the airport to move troops and supplies. On 21 January 1942, a lone German He 111 of the Sonderkommando Blaich successfully bombed the airfield at Fort Lamy, destroying oil supplies and ten aircraft. Fort Lamy received its first bank branch in 1950, when the Bank of West Africa (BAO) opened a branch there.

On April 6, 1973, the President François Tombalbaye changed its name to N’Djamena (taken from the Arab name of a nearby village, Niǧāmīnā, meaning “place of rest”) as part of his authenticité program