ECurrency Mint announced Friday (Nov. 4) it inked a partnership with Banque Régionale de Marchés (BRM) to provide a digital currency in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
In a press release, eCurrency Mint said BRM will issue the digital tender, eCFA, in compliance with eMoney regulations of Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO), the central bank of WAEMU. The secure digital instrument can be used across all existing payment platforms and will be equivalent in value to physical legal tender, eCurrency said in the press release.
According to the press release, BRM said the eCFA distribution will kick off in Senegal and, in a second phase, will be extended to Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo and Guinea-Bissau. The company noted that the digital currency is a high security digital instrument that can be used in all mobile money and eMoney wallets. The aim of the currency is to secure universal liquidity, promote interoperability and provide transparency.
“The mission of eCurrency is to preserve the secure and inclusive characteristics of physical fiat currency in our rapidly emerging digital world. We are realizing this important mission in the WAEMU region through the implementation of eCFA by BRM,” said Jonathan Dharmapalan, founder and CEO of eCurrency, in the press release.
According to eCurrency, only 20 percent of Africans have access to banking services, and as a result, a electronic system that is trusted is the ideal way to encourage financial inclusion. A digital currency provides citizen of Africa with a way to save and transact, the company noted. “We are committed to bringing digital financial services and true financial inclusion to West Africa,” said Alioune Camara, CEO of BRM, also in the press release. “We are very happy to announce the eCFA capability here. An eCFA backed by our banking system and the central bank is the safest and most secure way to enable the digital economy. We can now facilitate full interoperability between all eMoney payment systems. This is a great leap forward for Africa.”