Across Francophone West Africa, millions who rely on digital financial services have faced disruption and frozen funds since May 1, following a sweeping regulatory enforcement action by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). The move targeted numerous fintech companies operating within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) that had not secured required operating licenses by the central bank’s deadline.
At a press conference in Dakar on May 9, François Sène, BCEAO’s national director for Senegal, defended the institution’s decision to enforce a long-awaited licensing regime, attributing the widespread disruption to incomplete applications submitted by fintechs despite multiple extensions.
“The applications we received had many missing elements,” Sène said. “We held regular discussions with these companies to support them in aligning with the licensing conditions. But even by the final deadline, too many files were incomplete.”
The disruption stems from Instruction №001–01–2024, a regulation concerning fintechs and payment institutions that came into force on January 23, 2024. This regulation sought to formalize the status of companies that work closely with banks and electronic money institutions to improve payment services such as deposits, withdrawals, account aggregation, and fund transfers.
According to Sène, the need for this regulation was driven by two primary factors: depositor protection and mitigating the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He emphasized the importance of safeguarding assets held in electronic money wallets, which have been crucial for financial inclusion, particularly for populations previously excluded from traditional banking. The regulatory push also aligns with efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) frameworks, especially relevant as Senegal was recently removed from the FATF Grey List and faces a new evaluation in early 2026.
Sène stated that while the Central Bank aims to foster the innovation brought by fintechs — which has led to the development of many new products for customers — it must occur within a secure environment. The regulation, in essence, aims to enhance transaction security.
A Timeline of Missed Deadlines
The path to compliance was marked by several deadlines. Payment institutions were initially given until July 23, 2024 — six months after the instruction took effect — to submit applications for operating licenses. This deadline was deemed sufficient given the perceived expertise of fintechs in the market.
However, the BCEAO observed a “very low number of applications” after the first month. At the request of fintechs across the Union, an additional six-month extension was granted, pushing the deadline to January 31, 2025.
Even by January 31, the Central Bank noted that submitted applications were still “incomplete” and did not meet the regulatory requirements. Sène explained that extensive discussions and support were provided to these structures, including videoconference meetings, to help them align their applications with licensing conditions.
Despite this support, a second extension was deemed necessary, moving the final application deadline to April 30, 2025. The BCEAO communicated these deadlines and the requirements widely, according to Sène, involving relevant government ministries, banks, fintechs, their associations, and mobile money operators.
Widespread Disruption and Frustration
Yet, as the May 1, 2025 deadline for unlicensed operations to cease activities arrived (as clarified by BCEAO Notice №004–03–2025), the central bank had issued only a handful of licenses across the entire WAEMU region. The first batch of approvals reportedly came only on May 6, days after many services had already been suspended.
The fallout has been immediate and severe for businesses and individuals. Users across the WAEMU zone reported frozen wallets, failed merchant transactions, and blocked salary payments. Companies ranging from micro-lenders to mobile money aggregators — many of which had operated for years without formal licenses under a less stringent environment — were impacted.
“Several Senegalese fintech companies are at risk of collapse. Many people will lose their jobs,” said Mohamed Thiam, CTO of local HR fintech Socium, highlighting the threat to “an entire ecosystem.” A Dakar-based lawyer working with affected startups described the damage as “immeasurable,” warning that “many people will not recover from this week of shutdown.” One fintech founder reportedly lost an investment deal due to their pending license application status.
A regional fintech operator, speaking anonymously, expressed the growing sentiment of frustration: “Billions of CFA francs in transactions are frozen, and trust in regulatory authorities is beginning to erode.”
The Licensing Bottleneck
The requirements for licensing include minimum capital ranging from CFA 10m to CFA 100m (approximately €16,500 to €165,000), local incorporation, and robust AML/CFT, data localization, and fraud protection measures. While these requirements are standard in many jurisdictions, the pace of approval has been a major point of contention.
According to the BCEAO’s Sène, as of May 9, only nine licenses had been issued across the region (two in Senegal, others in Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso), despite there being over a hundred fintechs in Senegal alone. He mentioned that about fifteen applications in Senegal were in advanced review stages, but new applications arriving late further delay the process.
Eric-Franklin Tavares, regional operations manager at Paylican, an Abidjan-based fintech, criticized the speed and approach, stating, “After about a year and a half, we don’t have half a dozen approved players — including major market actors. That’s not insignificant.” He suggested the regulator, inspired by the European Union, might be “overregulating a sector it struggles to understand.”
The limited public information regarding approvals has added to the uncertainty. While a provisional list compiled by Mathias Léopoldie, CEO of Julaya, circulated showing some early approvals (like PayDunya in Senegal and InTouch in Côte d’Ivoire), no official, comprehensive list has been published by the BCEAO.
Economic Shockwaves and Uncertain Future
The ripple effects have extended beyond the fintech sector itself. Small and medium businesses heavily reliant on mobile money for transactions have seen sales plummet. Companies using fintechs for payroll are scrambling for alternatives, leading to delayed or missed wage payments. Even major mobile money operators like Wave and Orange Money reported partial outages related to their fintech partnerships.
Some affected fintechs, like DEXCHANGE, issued public statements acknowledging the disruption and assuring users of their efforts towards compliance. However, without clear timelines from the BCEAO, the uncertainty persists.
Critics argue that the central bank’s failure to issue licenses or provide clearer communication ahead of the May 1 deadline has severely damaged confidence in the regulatory process and could deter future investment in a sector that was once a beacon of regional innovation and financial inclusion.
“Today it’s the fintechs. Tomorrow, another measure could jeopardize any other company or startup in our ecosystem,” warned Socium’s Mohamed Thiam, highlighting concerns about regulatory predictability.
While the BCEAO maintains the enforcement is necessary for consumer protection and systemic stability, particularly in light of upcoming AML/CFT evaluations, stakeholders across the digital economy believe the abruptness and opacity of the implementation threaten to undo years of progress in financial inclusion and digitalization across West Africa.
For now, the region’s vibrant fintech ecosystem remains in a state of regulatory limbo. While more licenses are expected to be issued, the lack of a clear, public timeline or a complete registry leaves many companies and millions of users navigating a challenging transition, often forced back to cash-reliant workarounds, as they await clarity from the central bank.
