The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) and the French Development Agency (Afd) have signed an agreement for FCfa 2.335 billion intended to support the implementation of the Regional Inclusion Strategy finance in WAEMU . This envelope, of which 1.967 billion FCfa will be provided by the French party and 367.335 million FCfa by the BCEAO, is intended to promote a legal, regulatory framework and effective supervision, to clean up and strengthen the microfinance sector.

The regional financial inclusion strategy in WAEMU , initiated by the Central Bank of West African States (Bceao) is on the rise. It has finished convincing the technical and financial partners who are scrambling to contribute to the success of its implementation.

22 days after Switzerland, France has taken action by putting its hand in its pocket. It is for this purpose that the French Development Agency (Afd) and the BCEAO signed, this Monday, June 3 in Dakar, a financing agreement of 2.335 billion F Cfa.

The Director General of Stability and Financial Inclusion of the BCEAO , Mr. Ousmane Samba Mamadou informs that the financial windfall, source of this agreement, consists of 1.967 billion F Cfa under the contribution of the AFD and the remainder, i.e. 367.335 million CFA francs, payable by the Central Bank.

According to him, as part of this partnership, it will be a question of identifying and removing regulatory obstacles to financial innovation.

Added to this is the strengthening of the capacities of the ministerial monitoring structures (Sms) of the decentralized financial systems (Sfd) , the inventory of the DFS in difficulty, the diagnosis as well as the support for their restructuring and their recovery.

The BCEAO-AFD partnership will also focus on defining a crisis prevention and resolution framework applicable to the microfinance sector.

According to him, at the end of this partnership, it is expected that the capacities of institutions and actors will be improved and standards will be implemented in terms of financial education and consumer protection of financial services.

Both parties hope that public authorities and institutions improve their knowledge of markets (supply and demand) and adopt coherent national financial inclusion policies.

A timely partnership

The vice-governor of the BCEAO , Mr. Abdoulaye Diop considers that this agreement comes at the right time because the Central Bank intends to adopt a participatory approach, in order to take into account the opinions of all the stakeholders, within the framework of the development of the new regulatory framework.

In his opinion, the objective of promoting the emergence of a financially educated population, and which has access to a range of diversified financial products and services, adapted to their needs, and at affordable costs, cannot be achieved without a framework and a favorable environment as well as sound and sustainable financial institutions to offer these financial services.

He thus recalls the initiative that Governor Tiémoko Meyliet Koné had personally taken by setting up a Technical Committee for the revision of the law on the regulation of decentralized financial systems in WAEMU , to adapt it to developments in the sector, with a view to ensure sustainable and responsible financial inclusion.

According to him, the adjustments proposed within the framework of this revision are mainly aimed at reconfiguring the microfinance landscape, strengthening supervision, improving the governance of institutions and professionalizing the sector.

This makes the French Ambassador, Mr. Christophe Bigot, say that this support from the AFD will consolidate microfinance because to meet the needs of individual entrepreneurs, access to the financial system must be democratized.

For him, this is an important lever for both the social and economic development of the region and that we must go beyond banking networks and mobile banking to have more democratic tools accessible to all that allow to obtain credits.