The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is putting the final touches on its long-awaited regional instant payment system, set to go live on September 30, 2025. The platform promises a new era of seamless, interoperable finance for eight nations. But in Senegal, a key market, the fintech sector is less focused on the utopian promise of new infrastructure and more on the looming threat of a government desperate for cash.
On Monday, September 15, Senegal’s National Assembly will begin debating a bill to introduce a new tax on mobile money transactions. The move pits the state’s urgent need for revenue against the financial inclusion of its citizens, putting operators like Wave and Orange Money in an increasingly tight spot.
The proposed tax is part of an Economic and Social Recovery Plan (2025–2028) designed to tackle a sobering economic reality inherited by the new government: a budget deficit of 12.3% and public debt hitting 99.67% of GDP. To plug the hole, the authorities have set their sights on the country’s booming digital economy.
The plan is to levy a 0.5% tax on all mobile money transfers and a 1.5% tax on merchant payments. While the government projects this will rake in approximately 220 billion CFA francs ($360 million) over three years, critics argue it’s a tax on everyday life in a country where mobile money is not a convenience but a necessity.
In Senegal, over 90% of adults own a mobile money wallet, compared to a traditional banking rate of just 26%. In 2025 alone, these platforms handled transactions worth 15.3 trillion CFA francs ($25 billion), serving as the primary financial plumbing for everything from family remittances to small business sales.
The proposal has drawn concern even from within the presidential majority. Abdoul Ahad Ndiaye, a member of parliament from the ruling PASTEF party and a digital sector expert, has adopted a nuanced tone, acknowledging the state’s financial predicament while cautioning against a heavy-handed approach.
“This tax is important because the country is going through a difficult financial situation,” Ndiaye stated, before adding a crucial caveat. “However, we must know where and how to position this tax. We cannot blindly impose it on a sector that is still fragile.”
He warned that imposing a new burden without consulting operators “would risk slowing the momentum of digital inclusion, or even leading to social rejection of the reform.”
This sentiment is echoed loudly by the industry. In a pointed critique, Thiewlé Dione, WAEMU Treasurer at Wave Mobile Money, illustrated the cascading effect of the tax.
“I receive my salary (already taxed). I send 10,000 francs to my sister,” Dione explained. With Wave’s current 1% fee, that costs 10,100 francs. The new tax adds another 0.5% (50 francs). If the sister then uses that money to pay a shopkeeper, another 1.5% (150 francs) is levied. “The same 10,000 francs will have paid twice to exist digitally,” Dione noted. “Do we really want to charge for the circulation of family solidarity?”
The impact extends to essentials. A 10,000 CFA franc electricity top-up would incur an extra 150 franc tax; an 8,000 franc water bill would cost 120 francs more. “Those are liters of water we don’t drink,” Dione added.
Other African nations offer cautionary tales. Cameroon’s 0.2% tax in 2022 sparked public anger and a dip in transaction volumes. Uganda’s more aggressive 2018 tax led to a market collapse so severe the government was forced to backtrack.
This national tax drama is unfolding under the watchful eye of the regional regulator. The BCEAO’s new Interoperable Platform of the Instant Payment System (PI-SPI) is the centrepiece of a grand strategy to formalise a sector that, to the chagrin of legacy banks, has flourished in regulatory grey areas.
The central bank is offering the PI-SPI as a carrot: a modern, secure, and efficient system that compliant players can access. However, it is simultaneously sharpening a very large stick.
After an earlier attempt caused service disruptions and an outcry from fintechs, the BCEAO extended its deadline for all digital payment providers to become fully licensed. The final date is now August 31, 2025. In a May notice, Governor Jean-Claude Kassi Brou made the message clear: “From September 1, 2025, only licensed entities will be permitted to offer payment services within the Union.”
The PI-SPI’s launch one month later is no coincidence. It is the prize for those who get their house in order and the locked gate for those who don’t.
For fintechs in Senegal, this creates a two-front war. At home, they must lobby a government that sees their transaction volumes as a solution to its budget crisis. Regionally, they are in a race against time to navigate the notoriously complex licensing process or be cast out of the very market they helped build. The outcome will determine whether mobile money remains a tool for economic empowerment or becomes just another taxable good.