Regional instant payments are entering the disbursement channels of the Ivorian state. In a statement published on 8 October 2026, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) says the Treasury of Côte d’Ivoire regularly makes mass payments through PI-SPI, after meeting the technical requirements and standards of the system.
Payments tracked in real time
The platform allows Treasuries to send and receive payments regardless of the beneficiary’s or taxpayer’s account, with real-time tracking. The BCEAO specifically cites salaries, scholarships, subsidies, taxes and duties among the possible uses.
The Ivorian case is an effective deployment. For the other financial administrations of the Union, the central bank announces ongoing support towards gradual integration. Its statement does not give a timetable for each country.
Connecting payment providers
PI-SPI was officially launched on 30 September 2025 in Dakar. It is accessible continuously in the eight WAEMU countries and connects various payment service providers. At the launch, the BCEAO had presented the optimisation of salaries, social assistance and tax collection as one of the expected benefits for administrations.
The principle of interoperability means linking systems that were previously separate. A payment can thus move between participating institutions rather than remaining confined to the network of a single provider. For an administration that pays funds to many beneficiaries, this link opens the possibility of handling different destinations within one infrastructure.
An extension of the growth in electronic payments
The launch comes in a market where electronic transactions have grown sharply. According to data presented by the BCEAO when it was launched in 2025, their number rose from 260 million in 2014 to more than 11 billion in 2024.
The central bank also associates PI-SPI with the automation of corporate payment flows and with merchant acceptance of payments using a standardised QR code. The Ivorian Treasury’s use now adds a concrete case of mass public payments to these regional uses.