The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) saw its foreign exchange reserves jump by 42% in 2024. It is driven by a balance of goods and services that recovered at the end of the year and the unrestrained rise in gold prices

Foreign currency assets grew by 48%, from 5,761 to 8,540 billion CFA francs (nearly 13 billion euros). This dynamic is largely driven by investments in US dollars (around 4,454 billion FCFA) in the form of short-term deposits and institutional investments, and in euros 3,543 billion CFA francs via a bond portfolio oriented towards sovereign bonds in the eurozone. In fact, la BCEAO has intensified its relationships with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the RAMP program of the World Bank