Benin: Eleven institutions authorized to open PI-SPI, only one approved Business API
The number of institutions authorized to open PI-SPI to the public in Benin increased from six in February to eleven in September. At the same time, only one Business API has been approved by the BCEAO, that of Ecobank.
In Benin, eleven institutions are now authorized to open PI-SPI to the public, up from six in February 2026, while only one Business API has been approved by the BCEAO. This interface belongs to Ecobank.
The API allows for direct connections between treasury, invoicing, or management software and the instant payment system. It can be used to issue and receive payments, process bulk transactions, and track transactions in real-time.
At the UEMOA level, 24 Business APIs are approved. Senegal has nine, and Côte d’Ivoire has eight, totaling 17 between them. Niger has two, while Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Togo each have only one.
The number of institutions authorized to offer PI-SPI to the public is significantly higher. A list released on September 8 counts 104 in the Union, including 24 in Senegal, 23 in Côte d’Ivoire, 14 in Mali, 13 in Burkina Faso, and 11 in Benin.
Deployment is expected to expand further. Banks, electronic money institutions, and payment institutions that have not completed their integration must launch their PI-SPI services by September 30, 2026, at the latest. Microfinance institutions supervised by the Banking Commission have until June 30, 2027.
Instant payment is advancing faster than its integration into businesses.
The two levels of deployment do not measure the same thing. An institution may already allow its clients to send and receive funds on PI-SPI without having an approved Business API capable of automating these flows in a company’s accounting or financial systems.
Thus, the gap in Benin lies less in access to instant payment than in its integration with professional tools. As businesses seek to automate supplier payments, collections, or accounting reconciliations, the number of approved APIs will become a more significant indicator than merely the number of institutions open to the public.
At this stage, a Beninese company wishing to connect its tools directly to a locally approved Business API has only one participant available. This concentration does not hinder the use of PI-SPI, but it further limits the choice of technical solutions available for automating flows.
The BCEAO has indicated that the list of approved APIs will be updated as other participants complete their certification. Meanwhile, Benin reported an overall financial inclusion rate of 89.8% in 2024, the highest in UEMOA according to the annual report of the Central Bank.