On September 30, 2025, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) will reach a historic milestone with the official launch of the Interoperable Instant Payment System Platform (PI-SPI), orchestrated by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). “This is not just a technical adjustment, but a deep shift towards a new monetary architecture, where the slowness, fragmentation, and delays that plagued financial transactions will be nothing but distant memories,” explains an expert from a currency exchange office.
From this date, transfers between banks, microfinance institutions, and mobile money operators will be executed in real time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In short, a valuable time-saving for economic operators, an increase in the speed of currency circulation, and ultimately, capital productivity.
This systemic interoperability is for the benefit of the end user: individuals, SMEs, merchants, and diasporas. Behind the scenes, the project is already well advanced. Since June 5, a full-scale testing phase is underway, involving a carefully selected sample of clients by accredited institutions. The goal: to test the robustness, security, and speed of the platform before its full opening. The list of technical actors who have successfully met these criteria, updated as of July 31 (Read our previous article), attests to a massive commitment from the sector.
But that’s not all. The BCEAO is also preparing for a second shockwave: the introduction of its own central bank digital currency, the e-CFA. In concrete terms, any economic agent will be able to hold digital central bank currency directly issued by the central bank, without going through traditional banking channels. This innovation could potentially destabilize models based on deposit capture, flow management, and transfer margins.
However, these BCEAO innovations, while revolutionary on a regional scale, do not currently apply to international transfers. In fact, the central bank published a series of major instructions on August 1, 2025, aiming to clarify and regulate financial and commercial operations between UEMOA countries and the rest of the world.
That being said, instant internal transfers and e-CFA pave the way for future extensions with, for example, the East African Community (EAC/COMESA), CEMAC, or the Maghreb regional systems, or even digital South-South correspondence projects or with Europe. This will require, of course, multilateral agreements, security and exchange standards, and above all, coordinated political will.
In the meantime, it can be said that PI-SPI and e-CFA are changing the game within UEMOA, while the revolution of cross-border payments remains to come.
Does the BCEAO take African leadership?
By taking this technological lead, UEMOA is positioning itself at the forefront of the African pack. The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) is still in its infancy, with digitalization projects often limited to mobile money transfers. In the Maghreb, Morocco has deployed an ambitious strategy with the “GSIMT” system, but without an equivalent of a regional-scale PI-SPI. Algeria, on the other hand, remains significantly behind. In Europe, the SEPA instant transfer is well established but often paid and not systematic. In the United States, the FedNow system launched in 2023 initiates modernization, but adoption remains fragmented among banks. West Africa is thus breaking into the very limited club of monetary zones that have bet on instant, interoperable, and inclusive systems.
In East Africa, Kenya stands out as a pioneer with its M-Pesa ecosystem, which has become a global reference but remains a closed system for full banking interoperability. Progress is, however, underway at the East African Community (EAC) level, notably through the regional REPSS project supported by COMESA.
South Africa launched its instant settlement system in 2006 (RTC, Real-Time Clearing), but it remains expensive for end users and is not yet universal. A reform project, called “PayShap,” has been deployed since 2023 to generalize fast and low-cost payments. Egypt, on the other hand, has adopted an ambitious strategy with the InstaPay platform, connected to the central bank and financial institutions, aiming to democratize real-time payments in a market still dominated by cash.
