The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) published an annual report on the situation of digital financial services in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) area during 2017. The number of transactions in 2017 amounted to about 1,254.5 million against 735.2 million a year earlier, an increase of 70.6%.

Subscriptions and transactions for digital financial services in the WAEMU expanded in 2017 with an increase of 70.6%. This is what the Bceao informs in its annual report on the situation of digital financial services in the WAEMU during 2017.

This report summarizes the situation of financial services via mobile telephony in the WAEMU for the year 2017. It reviews the overall activities of digital financial services, including the number of subscribers, the volume and value of transactions carried out, and the breakdown by service offering and country for the period under review.

"As of December 31, 2017, twenty-eight (28) deployments of financial services via mobile telephony are counted in the Union, compared to thirty-three (33) a year earlier," reads the report consulted by the Journal of the Senegalese Economy (Lejecos).

According to the document, the sector, currently characterized by the decrease in partnerships between mobile operators and financial institutions, has recorded the arrival of new players such as MTN Mobile Money in Benin, Orange Money in Burkina Faso, MTN MFS and SGBCI YUP in Côte d'Ivoire, Ecobank in partnership with the Orange group in Guinea-Bissau, BIMAO and SGBS-YUP in Senegal, as well as BTCI in Togo, but also the cessation of activities for SGBCI, UBA-CI, Ecobank-CI which were in partnership with the MTN group.

"During 2017, the number of subscribers to electronic money accounts in the WAEMU stood at 50.5 million, compared to 36.5 million in 2016, an increase of 38.48%. The number of transactions in 2017 amounted to about 1,254.5 million against 735.2 million a year earlier, an increase of 70.6%. Nearly 3.5 million transactions were processed on average per day by all existing mobile payment platforms in the EU compared to 2.0 million in 2016," the report reads.

The value of these transactions increased during the period under review, from 11.5 trillion CFA francs in 2016 to 16.943 billion CFA francs at the end of December 2017.La average daily value of operations, is estimated at about 47.1 billion CFA francs in 2017, against 31.9 billion CFA francs a year earlier, an increase of 47.6%.

The evolution of financial services can be explained in particular by the entry into the market of new players, the strengthening of the acceptance network, the deployment of service points, as well as the communication strategies initiated by the actors, in particular, on the offer of new services.