The Central Bank of the Comoros (BCC) has set out its strategic priorities for 2026 on the back of a solid 2025: 3.8% growth — the best since the COVID-19 crisis — and inflation falling from 5.1% to 3.3%. Under Governor Dr Younoussa Imani, the institution is positioning itself as the engine of a deep financial modernisation of the archipelago.
Komor Pay, Komor Switch: the payments revolution is live
Three major digital projects headline the 2026 agenda: Komor Pay (mobile payment system), Komor Switch (banking interoperability platform) and a national payment hub. Alongside these tools, the « Mali Ya Wakazi » agent network — meaning « the wealth of the people » — is designed to bring banking services within reach of rural and island communities that remain largely unbanked.
The objective is explicit: deliver financial services to citizens without costly physical branches. In an archipelago of three main islands and several islets, agent banking represents an access revolution that could transform the economy of the Comorian diaspora — one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa as a share of the population.
A banking sector in real expansion
The numbers back the momentum: the consolidated balance sheet of Comorian banks reached 262.3 billion Comorian francs at end-2025, up 14% year on year. Credit to the economy grew 8% to 145.8 billion francs, driven by construction and improvements in electricity supply — two sectors stimulating private investment.
Two further structural reforms are in preparation: a leasing mechanism and a Comorian guarantee fund to ease financing for local SMEs, long held back by the absence of bankable collateral. New BCC statutes reinforcing the institution's independence will round out the package.
Why it matters
The Comoros remains one of the least banked countries in the Indian Ocean. The BCC's initiative marks a structural leap: if Komor Pay and the Mali Ya Wakazi network hit their targets, hundreds of thousands of households will access formal payment services for the first time. For regional investors, it is also a signal that the Comoros is entering a new phase of financial development — with all the opportunities that brings.