Julaya, an Ivorian fintech specialising in B2B digital payments, has received a long-awaited payment institution licence (Établissement de Paiement No. EP.CI.004/2025) from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). The announcement places Julaya among the first digital finance providers in Francophone West Africa to re-emerge from a regulatory freeze that has paralysed the region’s fintech sector since the beginning of May.
The BCEAO’s new licensing regime, introduced in Instruction №001–01–2024 and formalised via Notice №004–03–2025, requires all payment providers operating within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) to obtain official authorisation as payment institutions. While the directive aimed to bring regulatory clarity and enhance consumer protections, its implementation has triggered one of the most significant disruptions to West Africa’s fintech ecosystem in over a decade.
A Sector on Hold
The May 1 enforcement deadline brought sudden operational halts across multiple countries including Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Fintech users reported frozen accounts, blocked payroll services, and failed merchant payments. In many cases, platforms that had operated for years without formal licensing under a looser regulatory framework were forced to suspend activity overnight.
The shutdown sparked widespread concern among ecosystem stakeholders. “Several Senegalese fintech companies are at risk of collapse. Many people will lose their jobs,” warned Mohamed Thiam, CTO of Dakar-based HR platform Socium. “An entire ecosystem is being jeopardised.”
Criticism has focused not only on the strict requirements, but also on the BCEAO’s failure to publish or communicate licensing decisions ahead of the enforcement deadline. By May 1, no payment licence had been officially granted — despite a 15-month transition period.
Julaya Returns
Julaya’s approval, issued on May 10, follows a small wave of licences that began trickling in on May 6. The authorisation allows the company to resume its full suite of payment services, including fund transfers, account aggregation, card-based payments, and payment initiation — all under new regulatory scrutiny.
The firm’s CEO, Mathias Léopoldie, described the licence as a “strategic milestone,” emphasising that the company is now fully compliant with the BCEAO’s functional and security requirements. Julaya, founded in 2018, has long positioned itself as a bridge between mobile money and enterprise cash management, with clients spanning FMCGs, logistics providers, and SMEs.
The authorisation grants Julaya the legal framework to offer the following services under the BCEAO’s remit:
- Cash deposits and withdrawals
- Account management services
- Transfers (both one-off and recurring)
- Card-based and remote payment operations
- Issuance and acquisition of payment instruments
- Payment initiation and account information services.
Julaya’s comeback positions it among a select few operators legally permitted to provide digital financial services in the region — for now.
A Partial Recovery
As of May 9, only a handful of companies have received formal approval:
- Côte d’Ivoire: InTouch (EP.CI.002/2025), SycaPay, Bloom Card
- Senegal: PayDunya (EP.SN.001/2025)
- Niger: i-futur (EP.NG.001/2025)
Other markets — including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo — are still waiting for their first confirmed approvals. Meanwhile, several companies, including Wave and Orange Money, have experienced partial service interruptions. Others, like DEXCHANGE and Banxaas, confirmed complete shutdowns pending regulatory clearance.
Without a published registry or central database of approved fintechs, many firms remain in the dark about their status. One startup founder in Dakar said their investor pulled out after uncertainty around their application dragged on.
“The regulator’s silence has become part of the problem,” a regional operator told Launch Base Africa under condition of anonymity. “We don’t know who is next, or when we can resume.”
From Guidance to Disruption
While most fintech operators agree on the necessity of clearer rules for an expanding sector, the process of implementation has drawn criticism for its lack of transparency and heavy-handedness.
Under the BCEAO’s directive, fintechs are now required to:
- Hold a minimum share capital ranging from CFA 10m to 100m (€16,500 to €165,000)
- Incorporate locally within WAEMU
- Comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) protocols
- Ensure data localisation and robust cybersecurity frameworks
Critics argue that these obligations — though reasonable in principle — have been rolled out without adequate coordination, communication, or infrastructure to ensure timely compliance.
Eric-Franklin Tavares, regional operations manager at Abidjan-based fintech Paylican, warned that the policy could have a chilling effect on innovation. “Once again, a regulator inspired by the EU has embarked on overregulating a sector it struggles to understand,” he said.
Collateral Damage
The ripple effects have extended beyond fintechs themselves. Small businesses — particularly e-commerce retailers and gig workers — have seen income streams dry up. Employees who previously received salaries through mobile platforms are returning to cash, causing a spike in bank queues and withdrawal delays.
Some fintechs have tried to reassure users through public statements, but the lack of a clear timeline from the BCEAO continues to erode trust.
“If this continues, we risk reversing ten years of financial inclusion gains,” said a lawyer advising several fintechs in Senegal.
The Road Ahead
Julaya’s authorisation may be a sign that approvals are accelerating, but it remains unclear when — or whether — hundreds of other startups across WAEMU will follow. Until the BCEAO offers a transparent, public licensing register, the fintech sector remains in limbo.
For now, Julaya and a handful of others will carry the weight of rebuilding user confidence — and perhaps, lobbying for more accountability from the regulator itself.