The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) wishes to encourage emerging financial technologies, sometimes known as Fintechs, and to increase public interest in these companies. To that effect and specifically for the eight nations that share the CFA Franc as their common currency, a sub-regional office called the Bureau of Knowledge and Monitoring of (BCSF) has been established, according to a press release. According to the authority, the specific goal of this new office will be “to support the Fintech industry by establishing exchanges between the Regulator and these actors.”

As part of its mission to facilitate the development of Fintechs in the European Union, the structure will also gather and process any requests for information or meetings with regulators on these concerns that may arise. It is also required to provide a platform for exchange and debate in order to strengthen this development and make it easier to implement the necessary regulatory framework.

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This introduction takes place in a situation in which numerous organizations are attempting to gain control of the financial services sector, namely financial services delivered via mobile devices. Players such as Wave, CinetPay, PayDunya, which provide money transfer services, and the Togolese startup Semoa, which is involved in the digitization of banking services, particularly with Whatsapp Banking, are among those who have “become essential in digital transformation and the promotion of financial inclusion.” 

As reported in the most recent quarterly report on finance in West Africa by Baobab Insights, an information platform specializing in the continent’s venture capital market and specialized in the region’s fintechs, in the first quarter of 2022, West African fintechs mobilized 42 percent of the financing raised by start-up companies in this region.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh