In Benin, Orabank, Ecobank, BSIC and BGFIBank listed maximum lending rates of 14% in the first half of 2026, down from 15% in the second half of 2025. The changes emerge from bank-rate schedules released on October 26 by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), which allow lenders’ published terms to be compared across the two periods.
The shift comes as the West African Monetary Union has applied a 14% annual bank usury ceiling since June 1, 2026, reduced from 15%. The WAEMU Council of Ministers decided on the change on December 29, 2025. The legal ceiling applies to a loan’s effective overall rate, while the BCEAO’s half-yearly tables separately record the maximum lending rates posted by individual institutions.
Nine institutions now list a 14% maximum
Of the 15 institutions included in the Benin section, nine reported a maximum lending rate of 14%, compared with four in the previous half-year table. UBA, Banque Atlantique, CBAO and Coris Bank were already at that level, while Société Générale Benin lists 14%, up from 13% at the end of 2025. Other published maximum rates range from 11% to 13%, including 12% at NSIA Banque Benin, 12.5% at Sonibank and 13% at Bank of Africa Benin.
Base lending rates also changed, although the adjustments varied by institution. BGFIBank Benin cut its base rate from 7.46% to 6.41%, a 1.05-percentage-point reduction, while Coris Bank Benin lowered its rate from 8.88% to 8.14%, down 0.74 percentage points. Orabank and Ecobank kept their base rates at 9%. These schedules indicate lenders’ published terms; the effective overall rate, which incorporates mandatory borrowing charges, provides a fuller measure of a customer’s borrowing cost.