The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) confirmed in a publication made on November 3, 2020, the evolution of indicators of use of financial services in the 8 WAEMU countries. According to the document available on its website, Togo tops the ranking of strict (25.1%) and expanded (78.5%) banking rates. Extract !


What you need to know: the Strict Banking Rate (TBS) measures the percentage of the adult population holding an account in banks, postal services, national savings banks and the Treasury; and the Extended Banking Rate (ECB) assesses the percentage of the adult population with accounts in banks, postal services, national savings banks and the Treasury, plus that of account holders in microfinance institutions.

Strict Banking Rate (TBS)

In the WAEMU, the rate of strict banking increased by 0.8 percentage points, from 17.2% in 2018 to 18.0% in 2019.

The highest rate of banking was observed in Togo (25.1%), followed by Benin (24.8%), Burkina Faso (23.2%) and Guinea-Bissau (20.3%). Niger, on the other hand, has a strict banking rate of 6.8%.

In terms of growth by country, the rate of strict banking increased by 9.5 percentage points in Guinea-Bissau. This was followed by Côte d'Ivoire with +1.3 percentage points and Burkina Faso with +0.9 percentage points.

The increase in the rate of strict banking in the Union is mainly attributable to the 9.0% increase in the number of individuals holding accounts with banks during the period under review. Indeed, the rate of use of banking services came out at 15.6% in 2019. National savings banks and postal financial services contribute moderately to the financial inclusion of populations.

Despite efforts to strengthen the use of banking services, many accounts remained inactive in 2019, hence the need for banks to adapt the services offered to the needs of the population. The ongoing work on the revision of the regulatory framework should promote the diversification of the supply of banking services and contribute to the improvement of banking in the Union.

Extended Banking Rate (EER)

Taking into account the users of microfinance services, the Union's extended banking rate stood at 39.7% in 2019 compared to 38.3% in 2018, an increase of 1.4 percentage points. It is explained by the slight increase in the rate of use of microfinance services, which stood at 21.7% in 2019 against 21.1% in 2018.

The highest rate was recorded in Togo (78.5%), followed by Benin (72.2%), Senegal (52.0%) and Burkina Faso (43.4%). The performance of the microfinance sector in these countries can be explained in particular by the development policies and programmes that have been put in place in recent years. These policies have enabled people, traditionally excluded from the banking system, to benefit from financial services. Niger, with a TBE of 16.5% in 2019, appears to be the country in the Union with the lowest performance in this area.