(Ecofin Agency) - In the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), their impact on economic activities is rising gradually. These institutions are microfinance firms. Based on their total balance sheets, Ecofin Agency makes a Top 10 list of the most important in the union. 

Microfinance institutions are important financial actors that fund segments most of the time left out by mainstream banks. Within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), these institutions have continued to enhance their positioning, increasing their assets by 11% year on year to more than XOF2,253 billion (US$3.74 billion) in 2020.  

The double-digit performance confirms the positive trend being displayed since 2018. However, the growth in that sector is uneven in each of the WAEMU member countries. Ecofin Agency reviewed the performance of the 10 largest microfinance institutions in the union. 

With a total balance sheet estimated at XOF255 billion, Crédit Mutuel du Sénégal (UCCMS) maintains its leadership position in the WAEMU microfinance sector, according to BCEA data compiled by Ecofin Agency. The microfinance institution created in 1988 has a network of more than 200 branches in Senegal. In 2020, its assets rose by nearly 6%. 

 It is followed by Faîtière des caisses populaires du Burkina Faso (FCPB), ex-RCPB, with a total balance sheet of XOF253 billion.  

Next comes Union des coopératives d'épargne et de crédit de Côte d'Ivoire (UNACOOPEC-CI), which recorded the highest growth in 2020 (31.4%). UNACOOPEC-CI has more than 130 service points in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2020, its assets rose to XOF141 billion. Thanks to that performance, it stole third place from Togolese microfinance FUCEC. The latter, which has a network of 35 branches, is the undisputed leader of the Togolese microfinance sector. However, in 2020, its assets recorded just a minor increase (less than 5%) to XOF137 billion.  

The fifth and sixth largest institutions were the Senegalese and Ivorian subsidiaries of Paris-based group Baobab, active in African and Chinese markets. 

In 2020, Baobab Senegal was the only microfinance institution in the Top 10 to record a year-on-year decline in its assets. The institution recorded a 4% drop in its assets, which were estimated at XOF120 billion. On the other hand, Baobab Côte d’Ivoire’s assets rose to XOF108 billion.

Faîtière des caisses d'épargne et de crédit agricole et mutuel (FECECAM), leader of the Beninese market was the seventh of that ranking with its about 90 cooperatives.  Its assets grew by 8.7% to reach about XOF100 billion. 

It was followed by Cofina Côte d'Ivoire, a subsidiary of Cofina, the first West African microfinance specialized in mesofinance. At the end of 2020, Cofina Côte d’Ivoire’s assets were estimated at XOF83 billion, up by 12% year on year.

Senegal, the largest market

UM-PAMECAS and UM-ACEP, two Senegalese decentralized financial systems (DFS), complete the Top 10 confirming the country’s dominance in the WAEMU microfinance market. 

According to Central Bank BCEAO, in Senegal, the assets of microfinance institutions rose by 5% in 2020, from XOF612 billion to XOF643 billion. The country is thus the leading country by assets.

 Côte d’Ivoire second. Although the country recorded the highest rise in its DFSs assets in 2020 (+17%), the overall assets of its microfinance institutions were XOF100 billion less than assets in the Senegalese market. The third country by assets is Burkina Faso with XOF382 billion. It is followed by Togo whose microfinance sector has XOF260 billion of assets despite the small size of the economy. 

Togo, the leader by asset-to-GDP ratio

Ranked by asset-to-GDP ratio, Togo is the leader of the WAEMU market since its microfinance market represented 6% of its GDP during the period under review. Despite the size of its economy (the second-lowest economy by GDP in the WAEMU), the Togolese microfinance market is the fourth leading market by asset. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo