The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) jointly organized a reflection workshop on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and their impact on interregional trade. Attendees explored CBDC politics and innovation

The webinar held by the two institutions focuses on CBDC trends and developments and the impact they could have on interregional trade between West African countries and internationally. The workshop highlighted the growing interest of central banks in digital currencies and their concern to explore how the BCEAO could introduce CBDCs into its operations.
The experts, namely: Matthieu Saint Olive representing ConsenSys; David Wray and Willy Lim representing R3; Harold Bosse, Sébastien Le Callonnec, Kamran Shahin, and Arn Vogels representing Mastercard; Pascal Ordonneau, former CEO of HSBC Invoice Financing; and Erin English and Catherine Gu representing Visa addressed the main modalities of integrating CBDC into traditional finance, exploring a range of themes and topics, including Considered them political, security, legal, and regulatory rations.
Nazeem Noordali, Chief Operating Officer of ITFC, said: “The 4th Industrial Revolution will change the traditional monetary system as we know it. Technology is already reshaping the way business is conducted, creating new opportunities for greater efficiency and greater impact. The ITFC firmly believes in the potential of digital currencies to stimulate intra-regional trade and lead to greater financial inclusion and stability in the developing world.” For Justine Amenan Tano Beugre, Advisor to the Director General of the West African Banking Training and Studies Center (COFEB), it is important to underline that the BCEAO attaches particular interest to technological and financial innovations, considered eacute; are essential levers to strengthen financial inclusion. Also, like the main central banks, the issuing institute is interested in digital developments to be taken into account in the context of monetary issuance.