The business environment remains generally favorable in the WAEMU area, but performance remains contrasted among the eight member states. In 2025, three countries stand out clearly above the regional average: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo, whose results testify to the effectiveness of the reforms undertaken in recent years to improve the attractiveness of their economies.

According to figures published in June 2026 by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), Côte d’Ivoire leads with a score of 102 points, followed by Senegal (101.8) and Togo (101.2), ahead of Niger, Benin and Mali, eighth with 98.7 points. This indicator, based on monthly surveys of modern enterprises in the EU, measures the perception of entrepreneurs on the basis of industrial production, turnover in trade and services, employment and financial services, with a reference value set at 100 points. For WAEMU as a whole, the overall index stood at 101.1 points in 2025, stable compared to 2024 and up from 100.9 points in 2023.

This regional performance is in line with the findings of the World Bank’s Business Ready 2025 report, published at the end of December 2025, which already placed these three countries among the ten most business-friendly economies on the African continent: Togo in 4th place, Senegal in 9th place and Côte d’Ivoire in 10th. Togo stands out in particular as the leading reforming country in West Africa, driven by the simplification of business creation formalities.

The convergence of these two assessments, one regional and the other international, confirms the solidity of the trajectories undertaken by Abidjan, Dakar and Lomé in terms of economic governance, digitalization of public services and alleviation of administrative constraints. These results consolidate the position of these three countries as drivers of WAEMU’s economic attractiveness and are an encouraging signal for national and international investors looking for stable and reforming markets in West Africa.

TheHatLady