A few weeks ago the Central Bank of the eight countries of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), BCEAO, shared the good news that in the last five years the banked population in the region increased by more than 5% from 9% in 2006 to 14.3% at the end of 2011. Postal banks and microfinance institutions that have a specific legal status in the region are now serving close to 9% of the population. The other 5% is served by commercial banks.
