Will West Africa’s sleeping savings finally become its financial lifeline?

Can West Africa’s dormant savings finally be turned into the engine of its own financial sovereignty, or will the region remain dependent on external capital? That was the urgent question hanging over Cotonou on 17 and 18 September 2026, as the second edition of the Regional Shareholding Forum brought together institutional players, business leaders and market specialists to confront a stubborn paradox: despite dynamic growth across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the region’s financial markets are still failing to capture the full potential of domestic savings.

A strategic dilemma: growth without local capital

The stakes could hardly be higher. With development financing under strain and reliance on foreign capital exposing economies to external shocks, mobilising resources from within the sub-region has become a strategic imperative. Organised by UCA SGI and Dimensions GROUP under the theme ‘Shareholding and financial sovereignty: mobilising savings to accelerate economic transformation,’ the forum made one thing clear: the region’s own money is its most underused asset.

For organisers and regulators alike, the diagnosis is blunt. Strengthening popular shareholding is a decisive lever. Transforming savings that too often sit idle — or chase very short-term returns — into productive capital would give SMEs and large local firms the equity they need to expand.

Three battlegrounds for change

Discussions in Cotonou focused on three critical fronts:

• Opening up capital markets: making it easier for local companies to list and injecting fresh momentum into the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM).
• Inclusion and innovation: using digital tools to bring investment opportunities within reach of the general public and to promote financial literacy.
• Regulation and public policy: adapting tax and legal frameworks to steer savings sustainably towards infrastructure and private-sector financing.

A question of strategic sovereignty

Representatives of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the UEMOA Commission and the Financial Markets Authority stressed the structural nature of this shift. By making the financing of local economies more autonomous, states and businesses across the sub-region strengthen their resilience against exogenous shocks and the volatility of international markets.

As the forum drew to a close in Cotonou, participants agreed on one pressing priority: encouraging every citizen to become a direct player in regional economic growth through shared investment.

By Emmanuel Mbarga — Reporter