In recent years, e mushrooms in West Africa, and more particularly in Senegal. However, there are several challenges provide the national financial system with financial innovation in particular.
Faced with the uncontrolled development of electronic solutions driven by the penetration rate of the
telephony, 107%, the Central Bank has adopted Instruction No. 008-05-2015 governing the conditions and
arrangements for carrying out the activities of issuers of electric money in the Member States of
WAEMU. These regulations fall within the scope of the provisions of Regulation
No. 15/2002/CM/UEMOA of 19 September 2002 on the payment systems of the Member States of
the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The latter enshrine electronic money
as a lever to promote inclusive financial services. This statement states that with the exception of
banks and payment financial institutions empowered by the Law on Banking Regulation,
no structure or institution may carry out electronic money issuance activities without
have been duly authorised or authorised in advance by the central bank. However, it was noted that access
financial services is the first step towards financial inclusion and economic growth and
is a universal right.
As such, digital is becoming the new paradigm whose vision is to promote a financial
truly accessible to all, offering a range of products and services that can meet the
needs of low-income populations and small and medium-sized enterprises. Came to chair the forum on
"Relations between financial institutions and customers: digitalisation, a lever for better inclusion
financial" organized by the Réussir Business Group, Abdoulaye Ndao, Director of the Observatoire de
quality of financial services, stressed that in a context of promoting financial inclusion, the
digitalization, as well as the issue of innovative financing, are all challenges to be taken in
to increase the performance and emergence of our economy. According to him, these are issues
major ones that are in line with the government's orientations through the Emerging Senegal Plan
(Pse). According to him, this plan gives priority to the deepening of the financial system through
the promotion of basic financial services that are adapted and accessible to all. "Since 2012, important
measures have been taken at the level of sectoral departments to promote remote services
and thus boost financial and social inclusion," he stressed. At the end of December 2018, the utilization rate
of financial services (financial inclusion rate) in Senegal stood at 69.13% compared to 32.07% in
2010. This strong growth is in particular linked to digital finance, whose access rate is close to
30% vs. 1.44% in 2010.
Weak contribution of the banking sector to the economy
In addition, it was noted that the contribution of the banking sector to the financing of the national economy
is still very low. It stands at less than 35%, compared to rates above 70% for countries such as
than Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and France. While it stands at nearly 10% for the sector
microfinance. This is, according to economists, a major obstacle to the development of
private initiative and the promotion of economic growth. Indeed, small and medium
companies that make up 90% of the economic fabric represent only about 16% of the r banks. This low commercial penetration rate in this segment is partly related to the
market structure but also and above all the conditions of access to credit. However, several
factors come into play including the high cost of credit, the degree of information asymmetry between banks and
small and medium-sized enterprises and the level and types of guarantees required.