The overall demographic penetration rate of financial services increased by 16 points between 2017 and 2018 within WAEMU, with that relating to geographic penetration increasing from 76 service points to 111 points over 1,000 km2 during the same period, says a BCEAO report. These two indicators respectively measure the number of service points available per 10,000 adults and the degree of proximity, ie the number of service points available over an area of 1,000 km2. According to the report on the situation of financial inclusion in WAEMU during the year 2018, the first indicator has "increased by 16 points. It has thus gone from 40 service points for 10,000 adults in 2017 to 56 points of service for 10,000 adults in 2018 (see graph n°1).The report underlines that this state of affairs is essentially the result of "the increase in infrastructures for the distribution of electronic money services during the year 2018". "Indeed, the demographic penetration rate of electronic money services has increased, to stand at 54 service points for 10,000 adults in 2018 against 39 service points for 10,000 adults in 2017", explains the document. reveals that "the demographic penetration rate of the banking sector stood at 1 service point per 10,000 adults, as did that of the microfinance sector, both showing stability compared to 2017". high was observed Benin, with 115 service points for 10,000 adults, followed by Burkina (62 service points for 10,000 adults), Côte d'Ivoire (60 service points for 10,000 adults), Mali (56 service points for 10,000 adults) and Senegal (53 service points per 10,000 adults)." The report observes that "from one year to the next, the greatest progress was recorded in Benin (+46 points), followed by Côte d 'Ivoire (+25 points) and Burkina (+19 points)'. On the other hand, he notes that "a decrease was observed in Togo (-2 points), due to a decline recorded at the level of electronic money service points". The overall geographic penetration rate increased from 76 service points over 1,000 km2 in 2017 to 111 service points over 1,000 km2 in 2018. This increase stems from changes recorded in the distribution networks of electronic money services. "Analysis by country highlights a geographical disparity in the availability of financial service points. Benin, with 645 service points over 1,000 km2 in 2018, records the highest rate in the Union. It is followed by Côte d'Ivoire and Togo, whose geographical distribution of access points is respectively 293 and 259 financial service points over 1,000 km2", notes the report. Guinea-Bissau enjoys a weak performance in this respect, with 5 service points over 1,000 km2.

The report also notes progress in the area of the use of financial services. The strict banking rate, for example, gained 2.9 percentage points, from 16.4% in 2017 to 19.3% in 2018, while the extended banking rate stood at 41.1% in 2018 against 35 .8% in 2017, an increase of 5.3 percentage points.

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