The Federation of Professional Associations of Decentralized Financial Systems (FAPSFD) of West Africa held a meeting in Ouagadougou on Thursday, March 5, 2020, to amend a draft law that concerns the microfinance sector. The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCFD), a stakeholder in the meeting, moderated this work, which placed particular emphasis on digital.

The current level of financial inclusion within the WAEMU reflects the development of technology or electricity within the African continent, according to Azaratou Sondo/Nignan, President of FAPSFD/UEMOA. This workshop therefore aims to create the conditions for a better contribution of the decentralized finance sector to the promotion of responsible and sustainable financial inclusion and, therefore, of a harmonious development of waemu economies. More specifically, it is a consultation to amend and comment on the draft law regulating microfinance in the West African Monetary Union (WAMU).

For Azaratou Sondo, the Central Bank generally observes a participatory approach in the drafting of laws, and it is in this context that the validation of this law engages a consultation of the main actors. It states that this draft law makes amendments and additions to take account of developments in the sector. It has been almost 12 years since the current law was passed ; while since that date, there are evolutions such as the development of technologies that has made it possible to initiate digital finance. These are major aspects, according to Azaratou Sondo, that lead the legislator to revise the law to be able to take into account these changes and see to what extent microfinance institutions will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to offer quality services at a lower cost, involving a large number of populations.

Beyond that, there are improvements in the content of this draft bill related to the regulation of the sector. The objective, she continues, remains mainly better management and better development of the sector ; and for this, it is the main actor who can guide the legislator so that this objective can be achieved.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a stakeholder in the meeting, is a body that supports Decentralized Financial Systems (DFS) in the operationalization of digital and inclusive finance, in line with its slogan " Leaving no one behind in the digital age ". Its technical and financial partner in this momentum is the Luxembourg Cooperation, which has proven experience in the field of financial inclusion. In a presentation during the workshop, UNCDF highlighted the challenges and opportunities of digital in the West African sub-region, the strengths and weaknesses. The challenges, according to them, lie at the level of customers, infrastructures (the internet network, electricity, etc.) and at the level of agents.

The federation brings together the eight WAEMU member countries. At this workshop in Ouagadougou, four countries are represented: Togo, Benin, Senegal and Burkina Faso.