Across the UEMOA region, SMEs make up most of the economy: trade, agribusiness, services, crafts. They create jobs and growth. Yet SME financing in Africa remains a hard road. Most of the time, this is not because these businesses are not viable. It is because they are hard to see.
An information problem, not a viability problem
To lend, a financial institution must assess repayment capacity. Yet 85% of African SMEs have no complete balance sheet. Many are paid in cash, keep light books and have never borrowed, so they have no credit history. Faced with this uncertainty, institutions only have bad options: demand collateral SMEs do not have, charge high rates, or say no.
The outcome is well known: solid businesses stay underfinanced, and institutions leave a considerable market on the table.
PI-SPI: real activity becomes visible
With PI-SPI, its interoperable instant payment platform, the BCEAO has changed the equation. It connects banks, electronic money issuers and microfinance institutions across the eight UEMOA countries: a payment can move instantly from one player to another, notably via interoperable QR code.
For an SME, every collection now leaves a dated, structured trail. Its revenue, regularity, seasonality and customer diversity become measurable, day by day.
Valuable data that must stay protected
The richer the data, the greater the responsibility. Gathering the payment flows of thousands of businesses in a central database would be risky, and unacceptable to institutions and their clients alike. This is where Federated Learning comes in: the scoring model learns where the data lives, inside each institution, and only encrypted parameters reach SCORE360. No raw data leaves the institution.
What SCORE360 brings together
- FLOW: SMEs collect payments via PI-SPI interoperable QR code, and their flows are structured automatically, with their consent.
- ENGINE: the federated scoring engine learns from the whole network of institutions, without centralising their data.
- RISK: institutions monitor their portfolio continuously and receive early warnings.
Every score comes with its main explanatory factors. The lending decision always stays with the institution.
SME financing: what it changes for the economy
- For financial institutions: lend more to SMEs while keeping risk under control, cut analysis costs and credit losses.
- For SMEs: showcase their real activity and access financing suited to their repayment capacity.
- For States: channel capital towards the productive economy, encourage businesses to formalise and support jobs, at the heart of national financial inclusion strategies.
Built in Africa, for Africa
SCORE360 is developed in Abidjan, for UEMOA realities. Data stays located within the region, in compliance with BCEAO regulations and under ARTCI oversight for personal data protection. A 2026 Global Recognition Awards laureate, SCORE360 is preparing a six- to nine-month pilot phase with one bank and two microfinance institutions, targeting a November 2026 launch.
Financing SMEs is one of the great challenges facing African economies. With PI-SPI and Federated Learning, it becomes possible to meet it with no compromise on confidentiality.
FAQ
What is the BCEAO’s PI-SPI?
PI-SPI is the BCEAO’s interoperable instant payment platform. It connects banks, electronic money issuers and microfinance institutions across the eight UEMOA countries, including through interoperable QR code payments. Every collection an SME receives through it leaves a dated, structured trail that can be used, with the SME’s consent, to assess its activity.
Why do African SMEs struggle to get credit?
Most of the time it is an information problem, not a viability problem. 85% of African SMEs have no complete balance sheet, many are paid in cash and have no credit history. Without reliable data, lenders demand collateral, charge high rates or turn the application down.
How do PI-SPI flows help assess an SME?
With the SME’s consent, its instant collections become dated, structured data. They measure its real revenue, regularity, seasonality and customer diversity. Used by a federated scoring model, they make businesses with no complete balance sheet and no credit history assessable for banks and microfinance institutions.
Does SCORE360 centralise SME data?
No. With Federated Learning, the scoring model is trained inside each institution, on its own data. Only encrypted, anonymised model parameters are sent to the SCORE360 engine, which aggregates them. No raw data leaves the institution, and data stays located within the UEMOA region.