Trading volume on the West African Monetary Union’s (WAMU) interbank market increased by 12.6% in September 2026, according to a statistical bulletin published on 6 November by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). The average benchmark interest rate on one-week loans between banks also rose, from 3.66% in August to 3.73% in September.
Transactions averaged CFAF946.8 billion per week across all maturities. Banks use the interbank market to borrow and lend funds as they manage their short-term liquidity needs. The increase in trading coincided with a 0.07-percentage-point rise in the one-week reference rate.
Central bank refinancing edges lower
Refinancing provided by the BCEAO declined by 0.4% to CFAF6,697.3 billion in September. The weighted average rate at the central bank’s weekly liquidity auctions, however, eased to 3.2965% from 3.3122% in August. Those auctions involve funding provided by the BCEAO, rather than loans negotiated directly between commercial banks.
The central bank kept its minimum bid rate for liquidity-injection tenders at 3.00% and its marginal lending facility rate at 5.00%, levels in force since 16 March 2026. Its bulletin also reported year-on-year inflation of 1.9% across WAEMU in September, up from 1.3% in August.