The ranking of the leading banks in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU/UMOA) saw several shake-ups in 2025. According to the WAEMU Banking Commission's 2025 annual report, of the 135 institutions recorded in the zone, Société Générale Côte d'Ivoire keeps the lead with total assets of FCFA 3,783.4 billion ($6.7 billion) at the end of December 2025 — but right behind it, the pecking order has shifted markedly.
The real surprise comes from Banque Nationale d'Investissement (BNI). With total assets of FCFA 3,210.3 billion, up from FCFA 2,359.5 billion a year earlier, the Ivorian institution posted 36.1 % growth and moves into second place, ahead of NSIA Banque Côte d'Ivoire and Coris Bank International — a two-place jump in a single year, having ranked fourth in 2024.
This breakthrough reshuffles the top of the ranking. NSIA Banque Côte d'Ivoire slips from second to third place despite sustained growth in its balance sheet, which reached FCFA 3,076.1 billion (up from FCFA 2,532.8 billion a year earlier). The same goes for Coris Bank International, which moves from third to fourth place while keeping a positive trajectory: FCFA 2,807.6 billion in total assets, up 11.1 %.
Behind this leading quartet, the order changes little: Banque Atlantique Côte d'Ivoire holds on to fifth place (FCFA 2,418.7 billion, +5.6 %), Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire stays sixth with an almost flat balance sheet (FCFA 2,048.2 billion), and Banque Malienne de Solidarité (BMS) remains seventh, its assets up 18.9 % to FCFA 2,035.9 billion.
The other major shift in the top 10 concerns Banque Internationale pour l'Industrie et le Commerce du Bénin (BIIC), which climbs four places to eighth, with assets of FCFA 1,886.8 billion (+24.8 %) — a rise that comes partly at the expense of Société Ivoirienne de Banque (SIB), which drops to ninth despite assets up 11.7 % (FCFA 1,881.7 billion). CBAO Groupe Attijariwafa Bank rounds out the top 10 (FCFA 1,791 billion, up from FCFA 1,632.4 billion in 2024), while Société Générale Sénégal drops out of the top ten altogether, falling to twelfth place with FCFA 1,615.3 billion.
Beyond individual moves, the ranking confirms Ivorian dominance over the WAEMU banking system: six of the union's top ten banks are based in Côte d'Ivoire, and the top three spots — Société Générale Côte d'Ivoire, BNI and NSIA — are all held by Ivorian institutions, together holding total assets of FCFA 10,069.9 billion.
This growth comes against a backdrop of broader sector expansion: the top ten banks together post FCFA 24,939.9 billion (+13.3 %), or 30.3 % of the total assets of the union's credit institutions. Across the sector as a whole, total assets of WAEMU credit institutions reached FCFA 82,298.8 billion in 2025, up from FCFA 72,068.3 billion a year earlier — 14.1 % growth.
Source: WAEMU Banking Commission 2025 annual report, as reported by Afrimag (August 2026). Our teams track these developments to support clients who are residents or investors in the WAEMU zone with their banking and wealth decisions.