Non-performing loans made up 23.6% of gross lending by Niger's banks and financial institutions at the end of September, down from 28.5% a year earlier, the regional central bank BCEAO said in its monthly statistics bulletin published November 6. Gross bad loans fell to 321.99bn FCFA (€491mn) from 398.79bn FCFA (€608mn). The ratio for the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) as a whole was 10.3%.
Analysis: Niger's ratio fell 4.9 points in a year but remains more than twice the union's 10.3% and above Guinea-Bissau's 21.0%, the next highest. The stock of bad loans shrank 19.3% while gross lending slipped 2.5% to 1,365bn FCFA (€2.08bn), by our calculation. The lower ratio therefore reflects fewer bad loans, not more credit. However, the bulletin does not say whether repayments, recoveries or write-offs drove the fall. BCEAO's bulletin for October, expected in early December, will show whether the decline continues.
Source: BCEAO, BCEAO, Bulletin mensuel des statistiques, septembre 2026, September 2026 and September 2025