SENEGAL, West Africa—Senegal will use a digital currency this year that will be circulated alongside paper money as legal tender.
The digital currency, eCFA, will be issued by the Banque Régionale de Marchés, and will be accepted by existing payment platforms such as MPesa, a mobile payments platform that allows people to transfer cash on their phones, GovInsider.Asia reported.
“An eCFA backed by our banking system and the central bank is the safest and most secure way to enable the digital economy. We can now facilitate full interoperability between all e-money payment systems,” Alioune Camara, CEO of BRM, told GovInsider.Asia.
The effort is a joint partnership with eCurrency Mint Limited, a company that helps central banks issue digital fiat currency.
The e-money will be issued in compliance with the Central Bank of the West African Economic and Monetary Union. In its second phase of rollout, the e-currency will be used in other countries in the union: Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo and Guinea-Bissau, GovInsider.Asia reported.