With 2.9 million cards in circulation, up 7.33% year on year, the CEMAC zone confirms the rise of electronic payments, driven by the expansion of the GIMAC network and the arrival of new services.
Card payments continue to grow in Central Africa. According to the Bank of Central African States, “the number of cards in circulation reached 2,908,228 in 2024, compared to 2,709,519 in 2023,” an increase of 7.33%. This dynamic is notably explained by the membership of new institutions to the GIMAC network and the enrichment of the banking offer.
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In detail, the market remains dominated by VISA (1,465,905 cards), followed by GIMAC (1,001,715). UnionPay International (284,601), Mastercard (80,596), and private cards (75,411) complete the landscape, reflecting a gradual diversification of payment methods.
Beyond volumes, the technical infrastructure is strengthening. Data processing centers (CTI) play a key role in securing and managing payment flows. Several operators, including GIE CB, BGFI Services, and Intelligentsia, ensure the processing and interconnection of transactions in the sub-region.
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In this system, GIMAC appears as a structuring lever, pooling infrastructures to reduce costs. At the same time, CAMPOST, through its NPSI platform, is developing hosting capabilities for electronic payment systems, thus consolidating the regional ecosystem.
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