West Africa advanced payment integration as the Central Bank of West African States required interoperable electronic-money transfers to use its regional instant-payment platform. Zambia cut its policy rate by 250 basis points as inflation fell to 6.1%, while South Africa warned that inflation could remain above 5% into 2027.

Morocco’s Attijariwafa bank agreed to acquire control of Société Générale Ghana, while Access Bank received full banking authorisation in Namibia. The African Union launched the Africa Credit Rating Agency to expand ratings coverage and provide more locally focused credit assessments.

1. BCEAO makes PI-SPI mandatory for interoperable electronic-money transfers

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) introduced new rules on 2 October requiring interoperable electronic-money transactions within the West African Economic and Monetary Union to be processed through its Interoperable Instant Payment System, or PI-SPI, from 2 November. Domestic transfers of up to CFA8,000 ($14) per user per participant each day will be free, while charges on larger transfers will be capped at 0.8%.

PI-SPI was launched on 30 September 2025 and now connects 175 banks, electronic-money issuers, payment institutions and microfinance institutions, giving more than 38 million people access to instant payments. BCEAO estimates that the CFA8,000 threshold covers about 75% of electronic-money transactions. From June 2027, the same pricing conditions will apply to transfers between WAEMU countries, extending the domestic pricing structure across the eight-member union.

2. Zambia cuts policy rate by 250 basis points to 10.75%

The Bank of Zambia cut its Monetary Policy Rate by 250 basis points to 10.75% on 30 September, from 13.25%, following its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 28–29 September. The decision followed a significant improvement in the country's inflation outlook.

Annual inflation declined to 6.1% in September, remaining within the Bank of Zambia's 6%–8% target range and to its lowest level since 2018. The 250-basis-point reduction therefore represents a sizeable adjustment in the monetary-policy stance following the improvement in inflation, rather than a marginal change to the existing policy setting.

3. Attijariwafa bank agrees to acquire control of Société Générale Ghana

Attijariwafa bank agreed on 1 October to acquire 55.22% of Société Générale Ghana from Société Générale, while Ghana's Social Security and National Insurance Trust will acquire a further 5%. The Ghanaian bank has more than 500 employees and 40 branches across 24 cities. The transaction will result in Société Générale exiting its controlling position in the Ghanaian bank, subject to regulatory approvals and completion conditions.

The acquisition fits Attijariwafa bank's longer-term strategy of building a pan-African banking network through established local franchises. The group began its Sub-Saharan African expansion in Senegal in 2006 and subsequently used acquisitions to build positions across West and Central Africa, while its 2017 acquisition of Barclays Bank Egypt strengthened its North African presence. Ghana extends that model into another major anglophone West African economy and adds an established local franchise to a group already operating across 14 African markets outside Morocco.

4. South Africa expects inflation to remain above 5% into 2027

The South African Reserve Bank said in its October Monetary Policy Review that headline inflation increased from 3.2% in the first quarter of 2026 to 4.5% in the second and is expected to remain above 5% until the second quarter of 2027. The policy rate increased by a cumulative 50 basis points to 7.25% between April and October, while the central bank lowered its 2026 economic growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.4% in April.

The deterioration in the inflation outlook reflects higher fuel, food and administered-price pressures. SARB has warned that sustained oil-price pressures increase the risk of second-round effects, where initial price increases become embedded more broadly in inflation. The change explains why monetary policy has tightened even as the central bank has lowered its economic growth forecast.

5. Senegal enters negotiations with creditors over debt treatment

Senegal is targeting an agreement in principle with official creditors and bondholders by December, Reuters reported on 6 October, citing three sources familiar with its debt-treatment plans under the G20 Common Framework. Discussions cover official creditors, international bondholders and banks holding non-bonded claims, while derivative-based financing is also part of the broader creditor discussions.

The creditor structure extends beyond conventional sovereign bonds. Senegal has about $5.2 billion of outstanding international bonds alongside commercial-bank financing and around CFA1 trillion ($1.72 billion) of total-return swaps backed by government securities. Domestic CFA franc-denominated debt is currently outside the proposed restructuring perimeter, making the definition of eligible external claims an important part of the negotiations.

6. Mozambique holds policy rate at 9.25% and changes reserve-requirement regime

Banco de Moçambique kept its MIMO policy rate unchanged at 9.25% on 30 September but decided to change the reserve-requirement regime from the following maintenance period. The central bank cited persistent uncertainty surrounding climate shocks and geopolitical tensions, including their potential effects on international fuel and food prices, against a backdrop of slow domestic economic recovery.

Under the new regime, which will remain in effect for 18 months, banks may deduct from their local-currency reserve requirements an amount equivalent to new lending to firms supporting import substitution or export growth. This links reserve relief to specified business lending while leaving the headline policy rate unchanged.

7. Kenya licenses 29 additional digital credit providers

The Central Bank of Kenya licensed 29 additional digital credit providers on 30 September, bringing the number of regulated providers to 281 as it continues to formalise the country's app-based lending market.

Kenya introduced dedicated regulation for digital credit providers following complaints over high borrowing costs, debt-collection practices and the handling of personal information. CBK has received more than 900 applications since March 2022, while licensed providers had issued 9.6 million loans worth KES165.1 billion ($1.28 billion) by August 2026, showing the scale the regulated segment has reached.

8. IFC provides $50 million to expand Nigeria's infrastructure financing capacity

Nigeria's InfraCredit secured a $50 million subordinated unsecured debt facility from the International Finance Corporation on 30 September. The ten-year facility will be provided in two $25 million tranches and support InfraCredit's guarantees for infrastructure financing across renewable energy, digital infrastructure, telecommunications, healthcare, transport and other sectors.

InfraCredit does not primarily lend directly to infrastructure projects. Its model uses guarantees to improve the credit quality of local-currency infrastructure debt so pension funds and other institutional investors can finance longer-term projects. Since beginning operations, it has facilitated more than NGN600 billion in local-currency financing across 28 infrastructure projects, meaning the IFC facility adds capital to an existing guarantee platform rather than representing $50 million of direct project lending.

9. Access Bank Namibia receives full banking authorisation

The Bank of Namibia granted Access Bank Namibia full authorisation to conduct banking business on 2 October, allowing the Nigerian-owned lender to accept deposits and provide banking services to the public. The approval follows provisional authorisation granted in October 2024 and completes the regulatory process required for the bank to enter Namibia's commercial banking market.

The authorisation converts Access Bank's planned entry into an operational banking franchise after a prolonged licensing process in which the Bank of Namibia granted extensions to allow it to meet outstanding regulatory conditions. Its entry adds another fully authorised commercial bank to Namibia's banking system while extending Access Bank's operating network further into Southern Africa.

10. African Union launches Africa Credit Rating Agency

The African Union officially launched the Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 7 October, establishing a new Africa-based institution to provide credit assessments of sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, companies and other institutions. AfCRA will operate as an independent, private-sector-driven and self-funded entity, with governments excluded from share ownership.

The agency addresses two gaps in Africa's existing ratings landscape: coverage and locally focused credit analysis. Only 32 of Africa's 55 states currently carry ratings from the three major global agencies, leaving 23 unrated, while AfCRA is designed to incorporate African data and market context into its assessments. Its launch comes as Africa's annual external debt-service burden reached $163 billion in 2024, making sovereign creditworthiness and access to capital markets increasingly important to financing conditions across the continent.

What to watch

The Bank of Namibia monetary policy announcement (21 October), the Bank of Botswana Monetary Policy Committee meeting (29 October) and the Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Committee decision (18 November).