Togo: Covid-19 pushed up the number of new e-money accounts by 20.85% in 2020, y/y

Banking

Wednesday, 12 January 2022 15:00

Togo: Covid-19 pushed up the number of new e-money accounts by 20.85% in 2020, y/y

(Togo First) - More than 5.7 million new e-money accounts were created in Togo in 2020, up 20.85% compared to 4.71 million accounts in 2019. This was recently disclosed by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in its annual report on digital financial services in the WAEMU.

Over the same period, users of digital financial services, which allow the storage and transfer of funds through digital tools, carried out 144.47 million transactions, amounting to around CFA1,500 billion (exactly CFA1,488.69 billion). Compared to 2019, these figures were respectively up by 55.42% and 63.47%.

Regarding the number of service outlets, it rose from 17,214 (in 2019) to 31,173 at the end of December 2020, up 81.09%, according to the BCEAO. The upward trend was observed in other WAEMU countries. In all of them, the number of newly-opened accounts was up (except in Côte d’Ivoire), data from the Central Bank shows.

Covid-19 and digitalization

The growth was recorded amidst the persistent Covid crisis, with several health restrictions implemented. According to the BCEAO, some of these measures are responsible for accelerated digitization and the adoption of digital financial services (especially Mobile money) both in Togo and the WAEMU region.

"The year 2020 was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic which impacted several sectors of economic activity," the report notes. In the period, which was characterized by travel restrictions and physical distancing," authorities were prompted to adopt, "during the second quarter of the year under review, a battery of measures – in collaboration with actors of the payment ecosystem – aimed at fostering the use of digital payment modes," the BCEAO added.

These measures, the document highlights, led to "a significant evolution" of digital financial services in 2020 "relative to their supply, access, distribution, and use, both at the national and regional levels.”

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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