The Africa Blockchain & Crypto Conference 2026 (ABCC 2026) is seeking to develop an operational agenda for digital assets across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), as regulators, financial institutions, technology companies and other stakeholders prepare to meet in Cotonou on November 25.
Organised by Alliance Fintech UEMOA, the conference will focus on the growing use of stablecoins, blockchain networks and tokenisation, alongside questions around regulation, financial integrity, user protection and control over critical infrastructure.
The event, to be held at the Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa, is expected to bring together public authorities, regulators, financial intelligence units, banks, fintechs, payment infrastructure providers, blockchain and crypto-asset companies, investors, researchers and cybersecurity professionals.
Alliance Fintech UEMOA says the conference is intended to move discussions towards practical decisions, capabilities, projects and follow-up, with the programme centred on “decisions to prepare, capabilities to strengthen, projects to assess and deliverables to monitor after Cotonou.”
Digital assets becoming a wider economic issue
According to the organisers, stablecoins, blockchain networks and tokenisation are increasingly being applied beyond crypto-asset trading, including in value transfer, settlement, treasury management, financing, capital mobilisation and the digital representation of real-world assets.
For WAEMU, these developments raise questions around efficiency, user protection, financial integrity and the control of critical infrastructure.
The conference will examine issues including the geopolitics of the digital dollar, the possible effects of stablecoins on monetary sovereignty, dependence on foreign infrastructure, data security and the resilience of financial intermediaries.
It will also consider how credible economic applications can be distinguished from risks requiring stronger controls, and the conditions under which digital-asset experimentation could take place under supervision.
Alliance Fintech UEMOA says the objective is to establish “a common language, identify capability gaps, rank the workstreams and make follow-up visible.”
Five workstreams to shape regional response
The programme will be structured around five technical workstreams covering the legal and policy environment, financial crime, security, financial applications and institutional capacity.
The first, legal framework, taxation and user protection, will examine the classification of digital assets and services, intermediary responsibilities, taxation, user disclosures and regional cooperation. Stablecoins will also be considered in relation to governance, payments and monetary sovereignty.
The second, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT), will focus on identifying market participants and transaction flows, blockchain analytics, transaction traceability and coordination among supervisors, financial intelligence units, banks and platforms.
Custody, cybersecurity and operational resilience will form the third workstream, covering asset custody, key management, smart-contract security, fraud, investigations and incident response. Crisis scenarios will also examine responsibilities, escalation paths and technical coordination during an attack or operational failure.
The fourth workstream will address cross-border payments, tokenisation and development finance, including cross-border payments and settlement, tokenisation of real-world assets, B2B applications, trade finance and potential blockchain applications in development finance.
The fifth, data, skills and supervised experimentation, will focus on reliable data, market mapping, training and technical capacity within institutions. Regulator and public-sector clinics, demonstrations and laboratories are expected to examine tools, testing protocols and supervised pilots.
From Dakar and Abidjan to Cotonou
The Cotonou conference follows engagements under the UEMOA Crypto Initiative in Dakar on May 7–8 and Abidjan on July 1–2, 2026.
The organisers say discussions in Dakar highlighted the need for training, public-private cooperation and progressive regulation proportionate to risk.
In Abidjan, consultations involving seven institutional groupings spanning public decision-making, finance, financial intelligence, banking, digital policy and regional compliance identified practical needs including mapping market participants and flows, strengthening blockchain transaction analysis, clarifying rules, training institutional teams and preparing supervised experiments.
ABCC 2026 is expected to take these priorities into a regional forum.
200–300 participants targeted
Alliance Fintech UEMOA is targeting between 200 and 300 participants from the eight WAEMU countries, with executives and decision-makers expected to account for 60% of the target participation.
More than 30 public institutions are also being targeted, covering areas including economic policy, supervision, compliance, financial infrastructure, cybersecurity, investment and development.
The organisers have also outlined six expected outputs from the conference: a WAEMU Digital Assets Action Paper, Digital Assets Risk Map, Deal Book, Crypto & Stablecoin Market Outlook, Development Finance Brief and a Monitoring Dashboard tracking progress at six and 12 months.
The outputs are intended to establish a common framework for discussion, identify capability gaps, prioritise areas of work and make progress following the conference more visible.
The Africa Blockchain & Crypto Conference 2026, WAEMU Edition, will take place on November 25, 2026, at the Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa in Cotonou, Benin.
Public authorities, financial institutions, technology companies, investors, researchers and compliance experts can request pre-registration through the organisers.
More information and registration details are available at www.nextfintechforum.com.
