Benin recorded the highest financial-services usage rate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) in 2025, reaching 92.8% of adults. Yet the record, reported by the BCEAO in October 2026, sits alongside a much less encouraging picture for businesses. Bank credit remains difficult to obtain for many entrepreneurs, and the average cost of lending rose in Benin while falling across the currency union.

The contrast is particularly stark for women-led businesses. When the World Bank announced a $100 million financing programme in Benin in January 2026, it cited an International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimate that only 3.9% of women-managed businesses had access to bank loans. The 92.8% figure measures adults using at least one financial service; the 3.9% figure refers to bank-loan access among a particular group of businesses. They cover different populations and indicators, but together raise a central economic question. Does wider use of financial services give businesses better access to the capital they need to grow?

More financial services, but not necessarily more business loans

Benin’s record is part of wider regional progress. The WAEMU financial-services usage rate rose from 73.6% in 2024 to 76.1% in 2025. Benin gained three percentage points, from 89.8% to 92.8%, ahead of Togo (90.7%), Côte d’Ivoire (88.7%) and Senegal (88.0%). The central bank combines banking, microfinance and electronic-money services in this measure, adjusting for people with multiple accounts so they are not counted more than once.

The narrower bank-account measure, covering banks, postal services, national savings institutions and the Treasury, stood at 39.8% in Benin, up from 38.2% a year earlier. Its distance from the overall rate illustrates how much financial access now extends beyond conventional banks. The broader measure including microfinance accounts alone reached 91.7% of adults. But holding an account and making payments say little about how much a customer can borrow or what collateral a lender might demand.

The expansion of accounts and digital transactions contrasts with the demand for long-term funding among traders, farmers and small manufacturers. The regional ranking captures the spread of financial services, while productive investment also depends on the terms under which businesses can borrow.

Bank borrowing costs move against the regional trend

The cost of bank lending shows a different trajectory in Benin. Its average nominal bank lending rate rose to 7.32% in 2025 from 7.24% in 2024. Across WAEMU, the average fell from 6.76% to 6.69%, leaving Benin’s rate 0.63 percentage points higher than the union-wide average. Senegal recorded 5.98% and Côte d’Ivoire 6.26%.

Borrowers’ risk profiles, banks’ funding costs, loan maturities and collateral requirements all influence lending rates. For businesses in Benin, the 0.63-percentage-point gap with the regional average adds a borrowing-cost challenge to the difficulties of securing credit.

Microfinance brings reach, alongside credit risk

Microfinance has helped widen financial access. According to BCEAO indicators for 31 December 2025, published in May 2026, a sample of 21 Beninese microfinance institutions, out of 49 recorded nationally, held CFAF268.5 billion in outstanding loans. Within the sample, troubled loans totalled CFAF24.1 billion, a portfolio deterioration rate of 9%, compared with a 7.5% estimate for the wider WAEMU microfinance sector.

Within this sample of 21 institutions, the level of arrears reflects the challenge of expanding credit while containing loan losses. Troubled loans tie up resources and can restrict new lending. The BCEAO tables document portfolio quality but contain no harmonised interest-rate figures for comparing microfinance loan costs directly with bank lending.

Women-led businesses face a particular financing challenge. The IFC estimate cited by the World Bank on 15 January 2026 puts bank-loan access among women-managed businesses at just 3.9%, with many operating in a segment underserved by both microfinance institutions and commercial banks. This measure of business borrowing captures a difficulty that general account ownership and usage rates cannot reveal.

To address these financing gaps, the World Bank approved $100 million in International Development Association funding for the Women Entrepreneurship Development and Access to Finance Program (WEDAF). The programme aims to support more than 10,000 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through loans, training, mentoring and investment-readiness assistance.