By Ndumbe Bell JG in Douala
The integration and facilitation of inter bank payment transactions in the CEMAC region has been attributed to the Inter Bank Monetary Group (GIMAC in French) employees, led by their General Manager, Valentine Mbozo since 2014.
The visionary and architect of this realisation was recognised for his handiworks and commitment at the occasion of the Financial Education Fair that just ended in Libreville Gabon recently. He was recognised for having led a decade of innovations in regional monetary integration.
The Inter-Bank Monetary Group which is said to be an arm of BEAC, is said to be responsible for the realisation of the project for the operationalisation of bank card transactions within the CEMAC cluster and has also been responsible for the infrastructural expansion in July 2020, to include mobile transactions like money transfers under another name capped GIMACPAY.
The creations have been able to facilitate transfers to 70 destinations within the region such as the pilot phase of the QR code which targets close to 3 million electronic wallets and enhances efficiency with beneficiary data displays during transfers. The facility is also said to have the ability to integrate visa and mastercard services expected to be operational in 2026.
According to the organisers, the realisations of GIMAC has as objective to equally promote and cement a lasting foundation for the pan-African financial inclusion and integration. To realise the project, they surmounted challenges such as the building of a robust regulatory framework, calibrating a fragile telecom network and the complex and sensitive issues regarding pricing that usually necessitated arbitration.
GIMAC was able to overcome these obstacles with the constant collaboration of partners such as BEAC, commercial banks, mobile money operators, microfinance institutions including what officials called aggregators.
The organisers stated that the General Manager of the Inter Bank Monetary Group (GIMAC) merits the recognition because according to his exploits, he, assisted by his close collaborators, tackled all the challenges involved in linking integrated payment transactions with the West African Economic Community (also called UEMOA), when a real time system through BCEAO, was launched in September 2025.