2024-09-04 22:16:12
In Comoros, foreigners send more than 150 billion Comorian francs (which is 305 million euros) each year, or three times the country’s budget, and five times the city’s development aid. But most of this sum escapes official channels. To attract these funds to the national banking system, the Central Bank of Comoros wants to improve financial inclusion in the Indian Ocean region, where the banking rate is only 29%.
The Comorian banking sector includes nine credit institutions and 189 companies. However, the use of cash remains dominant. These cash flows can boost the economy if they are collected through the banking system. ” What we want, the Central Bank as commercial banks, is to ensure that part of this money is directed towards banking, for the benefit of foreigners, but also for the benefit of the Comorian economy. underlines Younoussa Imani, governor of the Central Bank of Comoros. We want banks to reach the people. »
By 2023, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy has been launched. For now, the banking service on mobile phones, more accessible than traditional banks, is the most used solution after money. ” Today we have more than 75 000 accounts open on Holo in the Comoros Development Bank, welcome Mohamed Salim Djalalidine, head of the Holo platform. We have students, informal traders, executive traders, professionals, and non-professionals… »
Open accounts and free transfers
Despite this, there are still reservations about the current banking system. A section of the population opts for informal banking systems such as tontines. Some cite religious reasons, such as denying needs that are considered wrong. But most consider the banking system too complicated. ” The absence of banks in certain areas, high costs, consumer disinterest in financial institutions means that many people prefer to keep their money instead of opening an account, observes Nasra Mohamed Issa, President of the Comorian Consumer Federation. Banks must, in addition to innovation, offer affordable and appropriate financial services and inform customers about obligations and risks. »
To respond to these concerns, the Central Bank of Comoros is pushing banks to offer individuals free opening of bank accounts and free money transfers for foreigners. And it seems to work: around one hundred accounts have been opened since the beginning of August. Objective: achieve a banking rate of 50% Comoros by the end of 2025.
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