(APS) - Regional consultation between various players in the financial system of the Economic Union and
West African Monetary Fund opened Monday in Dakar with a view to "building an ecosystem of
diversified, inclusive, convenient and efficient payment".
The vision of the Central Bank of West African States ( BCEAO ) is to "put in place in 2020
a regional platform allowing account-to-account exchanges, regardless of the type of account,
actors, instruments and payment channels used, through the GIM-UEMOA", indicated the
BCEAO vice-governor , Abdoulaye Diop.
This project is about moving towards "the adoption of instant services, available 24 hours a day, 7
days out of 7 based on quality and safety requirements", underlined the vice-governor.
These are, according to Abdoulaye Diop, the "essential characteristics of the future platform" which will simplify the
life of users.
“Experts were unanimous in saying that faster payments are important for improving
economic performance of companies", underlined the Vice-Governor of the BCEAO , former Minister of
Economy and Finance of Senegal.
With this project, the new system will "complement and enrich the financial infrastructures of the Union
to provide populations with local payment services at an affordable cost, faster, which
offer full connectivity to all types of digital payments".
This should contribute to "strengthening financial inclusion", added Mr. Diop.
"The organization of this consultation marks a capital step in the conduct of the project
interoperability of digital financial services and establishes the end of the scoping phase, during
which, the Central Bank has invested, through the modalities of implementation of the project", he said to
the official opening of the meeting at BCEAO headquarters in Dakar.
The digital financial services interoperability project in WAEMU, launched since April 2017, has
allowed, according to Abdoulaye Diop, to identify "the main characteristics of the future platform, the expectations
actors as well as the challenges to be met for the construction of an efficient financial ecosystem conducive to
financial stability and inclusion".
However, it is necessary to meet "certain challenges such as the overall security of the system which must be
strengthened to maintain user confidence and the quality of services," said Abdoulaye Diop.
It is also necessary "to pay particular attention to the protection of the personal data of
users, the robustness of the platform, the fight against fraud, money laundering and
financing of terrorism".
The work, which will end on Wednesday, will make it possible to finalize the development plan for the project.
interoperability of digital financial services.
For the resident representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Senegal, Adam
Amoumoun, the plan will constitute the reference document of the project and will detail the strategy for carrying out
the interoperability of WAEMU digital financial services, together with the roadmap for each
actor.
The creation of this platform "is a major step for the financial inclusion of populations", he noted.

Interoperability is generally defined as the ability of multiple systems to exchange
information between them without restriction of access, according to the BCEAO .