In the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the slow drip of regulatory approvals for fintechs is exposing cracks in the region’s financial digital transformation. Nearly a month after the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) began enforcing its new licensing regime, only 11 companies have been approved to operate as Payment Institutions (PEIs) — leaving most of the ecosystem in regulatory purgatory.
The approvals, reviewed by Launch Base Africa, include names like Flutterwave Senegal SA, InTouch Mali and InTouch Burkina, alongside Côte d’Ivoire’s Julaya and TouchPoint. But for over a hundred fintech companies across WAEMU’s eight member countries, the wait continues — with frozen digital wallets, stalled payroll systems and a growing sense of investor unease.
A Turning Point?
The licensing process is part of a broader regulatory shift that began in January 2024, when the BCEAO introduced Instruction №001–01–2024, aimed at formalising the region’s fast-growing fintech sector. The regulation mandates that digital financial service providers obtain operating licenses directly from the central bank, a change from the earlier model where many piggybacked on commercial bank partnerships.
The policy’s objectives are sound: enhance customer protection, reduce systemic risk, and combat financial crime. Senegal’s recent removal from the FATF grey list added urgency to the reforms.
But the rollout has been bumpy. The BCEAO initially set phased deadlines — July 2024, then January 2025, and finally April 30 — to give companies time to comply. However, it wasn’t until May 6 — five days after the enforcement began — that the central bank started issuing licenses. By then, most fintechs without approvals had already been forced to suspend operations.
According to BCEAO Senegal Director François Sène, the delay was due to incomplete or inconsistent applications. “We received many submissions with missing elements,” he said at a press briefing earlier this month. The BCEAO, he noted, held “regular discussions” with fintechs to support compliance.
But many startups say that support was uneven and guidance unclear.
“After nearly a year and a half, we don’t even have a dozen approved players — and some of the biggest names are still waiting,” said Eric-Franklin Tavares, founder of Paylican, an Ivorian fintech. “This is not just an administrative delay. It’s a systemic bottleneck.”
The regulatory bottleneck cast a long shadow over last week’s high-profile BCEAO conference on artificial intelligence, held in Dakar. Central bank governors from across Francophone and Lusophone Africa gathered to discuss the potential of AI in monetary policy and financial oversight.
BCEAO Governor Jean-Claude Kassi Brou opened the conference with a call for long-term AI strategies. White papers, ethical frameworks and AI research networks were all on the agenda. But noticeably absent was any reference to the ongoing fintech disruption happening just beyond the conference hall.
“There was a lot of talk about the future,” said one startup founder who asked not to be named. “But no one was addressing the present.”
The silence was particularly striking given the scale of the impact. In Senegal alone, over 90% of fintechs saw service interruptions after May 1. Throughout the WAEMU region, users were locked out of e-wallets, small businesses reverted to cash, and digital salary payments failed to arrive.
For some startups, the uncertainty has already proved costly. One founder reportedly lost an investment deal due to regulatory opacity. Others, like DEXCHANGE, have issued public reassurances but remain in limbo, awaiting news on long-pending applications.
Uncertain Path Forward
The BCEAO’s slow but ongoing release of approvals suggests the regulatory process is now in motion — but not yet at scale.
As of May 27, only the following companies have received approval as PEIs:
Burkina Faso
- InTouch Burkina
Côte d’Ivoire
- SYCA SA
- TOUCHPOINT Financial Services SA
- FIRSTCOM Global Payments SA
- JULAYA Côte d’Ivoire SA
Mali
- InTouch Mali
Niger
- iFUTUR SA
Senegal
- DUNYA Digital Payment SA
- MIKATY Senegal SA
- BICTORYS SA
- FLUTTERWAVE Senegal SA
Fintech operators say the next few weeks will be critical. Without faster decisions and clearer timelines, even well-funded companies could face insolvency.
“The risk isn’t just business disruption,” said Mohamed Thiam, co-founder of HR tech startup Socium. “It’s a loss of trust. Today it’s fintechs. Tomorrow it could be any startup dependent on digital infrastructure.”
The tension between regulation and innovation isn’t new, but the WAEMU example may be instructive. While the BCEAO has long maintained that tighter controls are necessary for long-term financial health, the pace and process of enforcement have raised questions about the region’s institutional readiness.
Experts warn that applying European-style compliance requirements without the same regulatory infrastructure or transparency could stifle Africa’s fintech momentum just as it begins to scale.
For investors and startups alike, the signal is mixed: on paper, the WAEMU region is aligning with international norms. But in practice, the licensing delays and lack of clear communication risk undermining progress.
West Africa’s fintech sector sits at a critical juncture. The BCEAO’s licensing regime could usher in a more secure and sustainable ecosystem — but only if it is implemented with consistency, transparency and speed.
Until then, startups remain suspended between two futures: one filled with AI ambition, and another marked by regulatory inertia.
The next move is the central bank’s — and the clock is ticking.