On 4 November, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) held a virtual peer learning session with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to discuss innovative frameworks for collecting and analysing data on financial inclusion in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Driven by rapid digitization and the need for more advanced economic integration in West Africa, the BCEAO is taking significant steps to modernize its framework.

The AFI-facilitated session examined the CBE’s data collection system, including the types of data its service providers report to measure how individuals and MSMEs use financial services, its data collection tools, key financial indicators, consumer protection monitoring metrics, and its governance and legal setup.

Participants shared the benefits of setting up a unique national ID and a secure in-house data hub for more precise data disaggregation and analysis. They also outlined the CBE’s MSME support journey, including a unified SME definition, specialized SME departments in banks, and leveraging both quantitative and qualitative reporting to monitor the support programs.

Finally, participants shared ways of advancing customer protection by monitoring complaints, resolution times, and other risk signals across supervised institutions.

AFI’s peer learning model facilitates knowledge sharing between central banks and regulators across emerging and developing economies.