The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is organizing, on August 13, 2020 by videoconference, a regional consultation with the banking profession on the Support Facility for the Financing of SMEs / SMIs in the WAEMU, which was launched in 2018. The objective of this consultation is to take stock of the actions carried out by the banking profession since the launch of the Scheme, to identify the factors explaining the lack of enthusiasm of banks and to propose the actions to be taken to correct this observation and stimulate a more effective operationalization.

The meeting follows a first, previously held on Thursday, August 6, 2020 in the presence of the actors responsible for the implementation of the SME Scheme at the national level, namely, the Identification Committees of Support and Management Structures, the Support and Management Structures selected within the framework of the Scheme, the representatives of the Ministries in charge of finance and the representatives of the SME umbrellas. This first meeting allowed these different actors to discuss the functioning of the SME Scheme two years after its official launch. It also made it possible to identify bottlenecks obstructing its proper implementation.

During the meeting on Thursday 13 August, all the actors of the Scheme, including banks, will have to draw up an action plan to strengthen its effectiveness, in order to allow SMEs to access bank financing more and more quickly. The objective is to boost their contribution to wealth creation in WAEMU countries.

As a reminder, the SME Scheme stems from a desire of the highest authorities of the Union, to respond to the persistent problem of financing SMEs. In this regard, the WAEMU Assembly of Heads of State and Government has given a mandate to the Central Bank to propose a mechanism capable of urgently resolving this problem.

On this basis, the BCEAO has undertaken the work that led to the establishment of a Support Mechanism for the financing of SMEs / SMIs in the WAEMU.

The mechanism aims to respond to the problem of access to bank financing for SMEs/SMIs, through the incentives offered by the Central Bank to credit institutions. It is also a question of better organizing the support of this category of companies.

The Scheme has four main axes, namely the promotion of SMEs and the improvement of the supervision of these companies, the refinancing of bank claims on SMEs and finally, the diversification of financial instruments adapted to their financing. This is why its implementation requires the involvement of States, support and supervision structures for SMEs, credit institutions and, of course, that of the BCEAO.

In addition, States are expected to adopt incentives and simplification measures to promote the emergence of SMEs. (For example, reserving a proportion of public procurement for SMEs, developing subcontracting, etc.).

The support and management structures then have the missions, upstream, to support SMEs / SMIs, to help them meet the eligibility conditions and to make an ex-post follow-up after obtaining the financing by the company. Consequently, these support structures will also ensure, downstream, the proper use of bank credits, the smooth running of business plans and the respect of deadlines. This will reduce the default rate. Thus, credit institutions will be able to finance SMEs, either directly or in connection with the support and supervision structures of these companies. For its part, the BCEAO aims to act on the conditions of financing offered to SMEs, by making bank loans to these companies more attractive, through the refinancing of these credits.