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The West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) – which comprises of Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – has increased payment traffic volumes by 15.8 per cent so far in 2016. This is according to data provided by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the leading provider of secure financial messaging services. The increase in payment traffic volumes is an indicator of economic growth, SWIFT said in a statement released today.

The payment traffic in the monetary zone in 2016 is higher than the rest of the continent, according to SWIFT. However, Africa remains the fastest growing region globally for payments traffic with a rise of 13 per cent, ahead of the rest of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, which grew at 5 per cent.

The data by SWIFT was released today as the global provider of secure financial messaging services holds its first ever Business Forum West Africa today in Lagos, Nigeria. The event brings together more than 200 high-level financial representatives from across West Africa.    

“West Africa holds some of the largest economies in Africa and is an incredibly important market for SWIFT,” said Hugo Smit, Head of Sub-Sahara Africa at SWIFT. “Despite economic challenges, the region continues to see strong growth, outperforming other regions and SWIFT’s global growth. SWIFT opened its office in West Africa in 2015, and will continue to invest and strengthen its community in the region.”

SWIFT said the data released today indicates long-term and sustainable economic growth across West Africa. The financial services institution's data is said to correlate with GDP growth. SWIFT's traffic information is relevant for understanding economic activity.

Financial messaging traffic in Nigeria was, however, slower this year, at 2.9 per cent YTD due to the country's economic downturn. However, compound annual growth over the last five years has been high, at 32.2 per cent. Ghana’s traffic volumes were up by 41.2 per cent, with a compound annual growth over the last five years of 27.5 per cent.

Total messaging traffic volumes in the West African Monetary Zone grew by 13.7 per cent as against 5.8 per cent growth for SWIFT worldwide. Growth across the African continent was 13.6 per cent.

SWIFT Index is empirically tested in collaboration with the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE), a leading interdisciplinary research institute in the fields of econometrics, economic theory, game theory and operations research. The SWIFT Index family of products is increasingly being used by economists and decision makers as a delay-free, fact-based leading indicator tool for short-term GDP evolution.