Douala, 12 March 2024 – Building upon their commitment to driving financial inclusion and digital innovation across Central Africa, AfricaNenda and GIMAC (Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l’Afrique Centrale) are set to host a transformative workshop from March 12th to March 14th in Douala. This workshop marks a significant milestone in the ongoing collaboration between the two entities, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September 2023.

The workshop, which will gather 25 participants from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, is designed to deepen understanding of inclusive payment systems use-cases and best practices and review of key initiatives outlined in the MoU. These initiatives aim to enhance interoperability, drive digital payments, and expand financial access throughout the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

"The workshop starting today with AfricaNenda will help us in the CEMAC region; develop, improve the modelling of the instant and inclusive payment system, and better specify key performance indicators, while improving the monitoring of the GIMACPAY ecosystem. GIMACPAY Participants will be able to enhance their service offerings and improve their merchant payments customer, thus enabling the inclusion of CEMAC populations currently excluded from the financial system", declared Valentin MBOZO'O, General Manager of GIMAC.

“We are excited to start our journey with GIMAC through this workshop, where we aim to identify key areas of refinement in scheme rules, level the playing field to ensure inclusivity within the GIMAC payment scheme and explore innovative solutions for merchant payments and cross-border remittances. We hope to achieve our goals of driving tangible progress in digital payments and financial accessibility across Central Africa in the coming months” stated Jamelino Akogbeto, West Africa Regional Director at AfricaNenda.

Through a series of interactive sessions and collaborative discussions, the workshop will focus on:

• Enhancing the use case for merchant payments to stimulate economic development and digital financial inclusion.
• Conducting a comprehensive assessment to measure the impact of interoperability within the region's digital payment ecosystem.
• Integrating QR codes into the merchant network to facilitate secure and convenient transactions.