The West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) officially launched, this Monday, March 23, 2026, in Tokeh, the validation workshop for ECOWAS draft Acts on credit reporting and the regulatory framework relating to Credit Information Bureaus within ECOWAS.
It should be recalled that these texts aim to improve the transparency of financial markets, facilitate access to bank financing, and strengthen cross-border banking operations through secure and harmonised exchange of credit data. They will also contribute to reducing information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers and support private sector financing.
The opening session began with remarks from the Director General of WAMA, the Honorable Boima S. KAMARA, who highlighted the strategic importance of strengthening credit information systems for financial integration and macroeconomic stability in the ECOWAS region. He subsequently invited participants to carefully examine these documents, verify their regulatory consistency and operational feasibility so that the final documents reflect the best international practices while being fully adapted to the diverse legal and institutional realities of our Member States.
For his part, the Chairman of the Committee of Experts, Mr. Philip BANGURA, Deputy Director, Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection at the Bank of Sierra Leone, urged participants to approach this final work with concentration and in a spirit of consensus, noting that the approval of these documents would lay the foundations of a harmonised legal and supervisory environment, which would reduce information asymmetry regarding potential borrowers and optimise the allocation of credit to the private sector.
Thus, since its opening, the workshop has been marked by particularly productive discussions and very strong commitment from all participants drawn from the different central banks of the Member States. This strong involvement reflects a shared commitment to building a harmonised, secure and transparent system for credit information sharing.
This initiative is part of WAMA’s mandate to promote monetary cooperation and to support the roadmap for the launch of the single currency ECO.
This in-person workshop follows earlier technical work, notably a virtual session held from March 2 to 6, 2026. It provides stakeholders with the opportunity to review, refine and validate the draft texts before their submission to ECOWAS’ statutory bodies.
The work will continue until Saturday, March 29, 2026, with expected outcomes that should mark a significant step forward in the process of regional financial integration.
