The Bank of the Republic of Burundi held an information workshop for stakeholders on its ongoing project to fully digitise Burundi’s financial sector, which is scheduled to end in November 2025. The initiative is positioned as part of the modernisation of the country’s payment systems. The project includes upgrading the existing card switch to achieve full interoperability across current and future systems, including banks, microfinance institutions and payment institutions. A central transaction management system hosted at the Bank of the Republic of Burundi is intended to support payments by card, mobile phone, QR code and over the internet, among other channels. In response to concerns about limited internet coverage and low smartphone access, the Bank indicated the system is designed to support both online and offline transactions, including via USSD technology already used by payment institutions and start-ups. The central bank also asked stakeholders to raise public awareness so the population can make use of the new payment technologies once implemented.

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