The West African Center for Banking Studies and Training (COFEB) and HEC Paris organized the final phase of the 2024 edition of the Executive Certificate in Strategic Banking Management, Level 2 (CEMSTRAT 2) program from November 25 to 29, 2024, at BCEAO headquarters in Dakar.

The closing ceremony, chaired by Mahaman Tahir Hamani, General Manager of the Center, celebrated the achievements of 26 recipients from WAEMU countries who diligently and successfully completed the program. The participants included administrators, general managers and operational managers working in the Union’s banks and financial institutions.

Seizing the timely opportunity presented by this certification course, which contributes to strengthening the capacities of managers in banks and financial institutions across the Union, Mr. Hamani expressed the BCEAO Authorities’ satisfaction in continuing to offer, in partnership with HEC Paris, a training program tailored to evolving market demand, change in the banking and finance sectors, and new management approaches. He also noted that the content of the CEMSTRAT 2 program was constantly updated to reflect changes in the Union’s economic and financial landscape.

Bertrand Quélin, Professor at HEC Paris and Academic Director of CEMSTRAT 2, explained that the program was designed to help managers enhance their leadership skills and their ability to rally their teams (including talent, project teams and so on) to implement their companies’ strategic initiatives in an impactful manner. The program also provides participants with the opportunity to fully grasp the mechanisms of value creation and successfully drive the transformation of economic players, covering aspects such as financing models, digitalization of the economy, and co-financing.

The certification program, delivered by a team of ten professors and experts from a top-ranking institution recognized by the Financial Times in 2022 as the world’s leading provider of executive education programs, was delivered from May 21 to November 29, 2024. It featured a combination of virtual and in-person sessions in Dakar and covered five key thematic modules: (i) Strategic Transformation, (ii) Finance, (iii) Digital Strategy, (iv) Leadership, and (v) Strategic Resource Development. They were followed by presentations of individual projects and a certificate award ceremony.
It should be noted that, since 2013, hundreds of executives have successfully completed the certificate programs in general banking management, human resource management (CEMRH), strategic banking management, and digital transformation management (CEMSTRAT and CEB2D) jointly offered by COFEB and HEC Paris.

Information on all of the various courses offered by the BCEAO/COFEB and HEC Paris is accessible on the COFEB website via the following link: https://cofeb.bceao.int/index.php/formations-strategiques.