The Central Bank of West African States (Bceao) and the International Finance Corporation (Ifc), have launched within the West African Monetary Union (Umoa), an awareness campaign for the general public aimed at a better knowledge of the services offered by Creditinfo west africa. Umoa's Credit Information Office (Bic) raised the awareness of more than a hundred journalists on the issue during the week through a videoconference from Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire).

In Africa, particularly in the area of the West African Monetary Union (Umoa), access to credit is at the center of all problems for Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (Mcro/Pme). This persistent weakness in the financing rate of the economy, due to a lack of asymmetry of information between borrowers and banks, identified as a major constraint to access to credit, has led the Central Bank of West African States ( Bceao) and the International Finance Corporation (Ifc), a member of the World Bank Group , to launch within UMOA, an awareness campaign for the general public aimed at better understanding the services offered by Creditinfo west africa, through the Umoa Credit Information Office (Bic). This is to “broaden access to credit, reduce bad debts, strengthen the role of consumers, by formalizing the “informal … and invisible”, underlines Oscar Madeddu, credit risk management adviser at the Ifc. According to credit experts: “In Africa, 90% of businesses are Micro/SMEs. And the vast majority is in the informal sector, thus resulting in - 9% of GDP and - 60% -80% of jobs”, underline the experts. Still according to the study, one of the major problems is the impossibility of access to credit. Up to 75% of very small medium-sized enterprises (VSMEs) declare that they have no possibility of accessing financing. In this misdeal, UEMOA is one of the most difficult regions And yet out of the availability of credit to SMEs amounting to 400 billion dollars, only some 70 billion dollars are disbursed. "The countries where access to credit is 'the most difficult, limited, expensive and cumbersome...are the same where there is no Credit Information Bureau (Bic)'", the experts point out. Of these countries, “Africa has the weakest presence of Bic and the weakest presence of Bic”, specify the credit experts. It is in this that the Bic comes to reduce the asymmetry of information by promoting access to credit, by reducing the high percentage of bad debts and operating costs, by simplifying the need for guarantees and by creating a guarantee of reputation. , by formalizing the informal ones and making them visible and by supporting the efforts of regulators in the control of systemic risk and allowing countries to improve their international standing, object of the launch of the Bic on the 8th last through a videoconference by a session of sensitization and training of the media for the orientations of the BCEAO . Jean-Pierre MALOU