The African Development Bank approved on 09 February 2022 in Abidjan, a grant of USD 750,000 for the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets (CREPMF) of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU). This grant is part of the support for the further modernisation of the regulatory framework of the regional financial market in order to increase its attractiveness, depth and competitiveness.
Improving financing conditions, supporting the economic and social development of the member countries of the West African Monetary Union, and increasing the role of the regional financial market in financing the region’s economies are the objectives of this financial package. This support comes from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund administered by the African Development Bank and financed by the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance and the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Cooperation. . The US$ 750,000 (430 million CFA francs) will finance the second phase of the African Development Bank Group’s Regional Financial Market Development Support Project (PADMAFIR II), implemented by the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets of the West African Monetary Union
Thus, PADMAFIR II will in turn contribute to the development of a monetary and financial code for the region. In addition, it will promote the deepening of the mortgage and securitisation market by building the capacity of all stakeholders and supporting the revision of the legal and regulatory framework. Thus, the project will be able to define an operational framework for setting reference rates for better alignment with international best practices of the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
For Ripert Bossoukpé, Secretary General of the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets, “this new commitment of the African Development Bank Group alongside the Regional Council for Public Savings and Financial Markets, after the good results obtained with PADMAFIR I, is always in line with the dynamics of the structural transformation of the regional financial market in order to respond to the strong aspirations of the authorities of the West African Monetary Union and the private sector.
As a reminder, the West African Monetary Union is composed of eight countries of the West African franc zone, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.