Central Bank of West African States Reports 9.3% Growth in Regional Banking Assets

The banking sector across the West African Monetary Union expanded significantly as total assets reached 35,525.6 billion CFA francs, according to an official financial assessment from the Central Bank of West African States.

The annual regulatory review shows total assets grew by 9.3 percent. This expansion added 3,034.2 billion CFA francs to the banking system's balance sheet across eight member nations.

Expanding Infrastructure and Bank Network

West African Banking Expansion (Year-over-Year)
┌───────────────────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────┐
│ Indicator                 │ 2016        │ 2017        │ Change   │
├───────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────┤
│ Authorized Institutions   │ 138         │ 144         │ +4.3%    │
│ Physical Bank Branches    │ 2,542       │ 2,584       │ +1.7%    │
│ Active ATMs / GABs        │ 3,010       │ 3,217       │ +6.9%    │
│ Total System Assets (CFA) │ 32.5T       │ 35.5T       │ +9.3%    │
└───────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────┘

The Central Bank of West African States licensed six new institutions, bringing the total number of approved credit establishments to 144. This network includes 126 commercial banks and 18 non-bank financial institutions operating in the region.

Financial institutions expanded physical service points across member countries. Physical bank branches increased to 2,584 locations, while automated teller machines grew to 3,217 active units.

Customer Deposits and Lending Spikes

Total banking resources reached 26,842.3 billion CFA francs due to strong public confidence. Customer deposits and borrowings drove this growth, rising 9.9 percent to hit 22,486.6 billion CFA francs.

Bank equity capital jumped 21.8 percent to reach 2,558.0 billion CFA francs. Regulators attribute this balance sheet strengthening to stricter capital requirements designed to protect customer funds.

Total loans issued to individuals and businesses climbed 13.3 percent to 18,863.3 billion CFA francs. Short-term financing under two years continued to dominate the regional market, accounting for 47.1 percent of all active credit.

Structure of Bank Credit Portfolio
■ Short-Term (0-2 Yrs)  : 47.1%
■ Medium-Term (2-10 Yrs): 41.7%
■ Long-Term (>10 Yrs)   :  5.0%

Revenues Rise While Borrowing Costs Drop

The net banking income across the regional system surged 9.0 percent to 1,829.1 billion CFA francs. Gross operational revenues reached 3,331.5 billion CFA francs, driven primarily by customer transactions and public debt investments.

Borrowers benefited from slightly lower interest rates throughout the year. The average interest rate on commercial loans dropped by 0.4 percentage points to end at 10.0 percent.

Deposit accounts saw stable returns for savers. Banks paid an average interest rate of 2.16 percent on customer credit accounts, maintaining steady yield levels across the monetary union.