The rise of cross-border pan-African banks in the WAEMU

This chapter reviews the recent trend of pan-African banks presence in the WAEMU region. The proportion of foreign banks grew from 63% in 2000 to 79.5% in 2017 abd the share of cross-border pan-African banks rose from 29% in 2000 to 62% in 2017. The ownership structure of the banking sector is changing fast, implying changes in the structure of the banking sector in terms of competition, lending and stability. This chapter shows how the increasing cross-border pan-African banks activities in the region’s countries has improved competition within the banking sector, while at the same time, it has increased access to bank loans. The current rise of pan-African banks has different policy implications. This trend can be sustained by investing in new technologies which enable banks to go digital. Policy makers and regulators should also be sensitive to the need to promote the use of new technologies which are necessary to improve the efficiency of pan-African banks and to reduce intermediation costs.