Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises obtained loans at an average rate of 7.03% in the WAEMU in 2025, compared with 6.06% for large companies. The annual report on banking conditions, published by the BCEAO on 25 September, thus measures a gap of 97 basis points, or 0.97 percentage point.
A gap that weighs on corporate financing
These averages describe conditions observed at banks. They allow customer categories to be compared, but each loan retains its own features: amount, term, guarantees and repayment terms.
As an illustrative calculation, 0.97 point applied for one year to a constant principal of 10 million CFA francs amounts to 97,000 CFA francs in interest. This calculation isolates the effect of the rate: a schedule with progressive repayment of principal produces a different amount, to which contract charges may be added.
SMEs receive a smaller share of lending
The share of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in lending to legal entities fell from 52.0% in 2024 to 49.1% in 2025. That of large companies rose from 48.0% to 50.9%. The rate gap therefore sits within a distribution of financing that has become more favourable to large structures.
For a company, the nominal cost of credit and effective access to financing answer two different questions: how much a loan obtained costs, and what place companies in its category occupy in newly distributed credit? The two indicators should be monitored together.
Average rate almost stable in June 2026
The business outlook note published on 8 October provides a more recent point of comparison. Excluding charges and taxes, the average lending rate across the Union stood at 6.66% in June 2026, compared with 6.67% in May.
This monthly rate covers the whole customer base studied; it does not replace the annual rate specific to SMEs. To read a banking offer, the useful comparison concerns the full cost and repayment schedule of the contract, keeping the same period and the same type of financing.