In its monthly note on the economic situation for August, the Bceao mentioned the activity of market services in the WAEMU. According to the opinions of business leaders, the economic situation in August 2020 returned to the upward trend, in line with the recovery of financial services.

This performance is attributable to the increase in the overall sales volume, particularly in the domestic segment of the market. The turnover of companies in the sector increased by 0.4% in August 2020, after a realization of -0.5% in July 2020.

The increases concern Niger (+8.7%), Togo (+5.7%), Senegal (+5.1%) and Burkina Faso (+0.3%). The Bceao reports that the declines observed in Mali (-5.5%), Guinea-Bissau (-2.5%), Côte d'Ivoire (-1.1%) and Benin (-0.8%) had a moderating effect.

The good direction of the economy concerns financial services (+1.7% against -1.0%), with non-financial services falling (-2.9% against +0.7% in July). The increase in turnover related to financial intermediation occurred despite the decrease in the implementation of credits (-11.3%).

Banks nevertheless increased their purchases of public securities (+53.3%), at a time when their bids at the Central Bank's counters remained high (+1.3%, to 5,205.0 billion).

Year-on-year, market services activity maintained an upward trend (+5.4% against +5.2%), the decline in non-financial services (-4.1% as in July), was more than offset by the increase in financial services (+9.1% as in July).

The increase in the turnover of services is observed in all WAEMU countries. The largest increases were in Benin (+9.4%), Côte d'Ivoire (+9.2%) and Guinea Bissau (+5.4%).