[Press release from GIM-UEMOA, Dakar May 7, 2026] The regional monetary integration process takes a new step in the UEMOA. The Interbank Monetary Group of the UEMOA (GIM-UEMOA) announced on May 7, 2026 in Dakar that eight banking institutions have successfully validated the first pilot tests related to the regional processing of e-commerce transactions.
The banks that have succeeded in these pioneering operations are:
• Bank of Africa Ivory Coast
• Bank of Africa Senegal
• Bank of Africa Niger
• Bank of Africa Benin
• Bank of Africa Burkina Faso
• Bank of Africa Togo
• Coris Bank Senegal
• Crédit du Sénégal
According to GIM-UEMOA, these results confirm the technical feasibility of the regional compliance system provided for in Decision No. 31 of the UEMOA Council of Ministers concerning the routing, clearing, and settlement of monetary operations carried out within the Union.
The pilot operations covered the entire regional chain for processing e-commerce transactions, including secure 3D Secure authentication via the GIM-UEMOA regional Directory Server, routing flows through the regional interbank monetary switch, as well as interbank clearing at the community level.
GIM-UEMOA commended the institutions involved for “results demonstrating the ability of stakeholders to achieve compliance within controlled deadlines.”
This advancement comes as financial institutions in the Union are called upon to accelerate their transition to a fully regionalized processing of monetary operations. After several extensions granted at the request of sector players, the influx of e-commerce acquiring flows now appears as a strategic lever to achieve full regulatory compliance.
GIM-UEMOA thus invites institutions that have not yet finalized their projects to intensify work before the regulatory deadline set for June 30, 2026.
Beyond compliance, this step paves the way for increased sovereignty of electronic payments in the UEMOA space, with major issues in terms of security, interoperability, and reducing dependence on international transaction processing circuits.
