The regional financial market of the West African Economic and Monetary Union: Lessons to be learned after 25 years of existence

Abstract

An economic, political, institutional and technical success, the regional financial market of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) is the only one in the world shared by several countries, fully electronic and perfectly integrated. Its primary mission is to provide companies with the long-term financing they need to carry out their projects and boost their performance. The aim of this article is to see whether, after 25 years of existence, the financial market has achieved its objectives in terms of mobilizing resources and boosting economic growth. Overall, the results show that the financial market augurs well for the future, particularly in terms of attracting foreign capital, investor confidence and, above all, resilience during the recent crisis of covid 19, comparatively speaking, of African stock exchanges.