The paper deals with distinguishing features of presidential systems of government adopted in the current or former constitutions of some Francophone African countries, such as Benin, Djibouti, Ivory Coast or the Republic of Congo. Particular attention has been devoted to the internal structure of the executive branch of government (the existence of the prime minister as a separate body) as well as to the reception of diverse mechanisms of rationalised parliamentarianism created previously in the constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The dynamics of constitutional changes leading to the adoption of presidentialism in place of semi-presidentialism and vice versa in such countries as Niger or Senegal has also been taken into account. In the light of the findings, it can be stated that the specific properties of presidentialism in Francophone Africa prove its apparent distinctness from certain typical assumptions of this model.