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Payments/GA/gimacpay

GIMACPAY

In Gabon, "CEMAC" payments mean GIMACPAY: the network of the GIMAC, the interbank payment group set up by the regional central bank (BEAC) and the banks of the six CEMAC countries. It connects Gabon's mobile wallets and banks to each other and to those of Cameroon, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic. You don't sign up for it: you use it from your Airtel Money or Moov Money menu or your bank, to send money to another network or country, withdraw at a cash machine without a card, or pay by scanning a GIMACPAY QR code, in use in Gabon since December 2025 [8].
Country Gabon (GA), one of the six CEMAC states using the CFA franc (XAF)
What it is The GIMAC's regional switch for cards, mobile money and money transfers, branded GIMACPAY [1]
Providers in Gabon Airtel Money [4], Moov Money [3], and in 2020 "almost all banks" for cards [2]
Since GIMAC founded 4 June 2012; GIMACPAY on sale from 10 July 2020 [1]
Cost Set by your provider; Airtel Money charges 250–7,500 FCFA per GIMACPAY transfer [4]
Typical limit Your wallet's own limits apply (Airtel Money: 500,000 FCFA per transaction, see Airtel Money)
Reaches 6 countries, 123 active members, 37 million connected users, says the GIMAC [5]
Code on paper? Yes, increasingly: GIMACPAY QR codes at shops and public offices (MaDigiPaie), and the CEMAC common QR code since July 2026 [11]

How CEMAC interoperability came to Gabon

The GIMAC (Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l'Afrique Centrale) was created in Douala on 4 June 2012 by the BEAC and the region's banks, at first to link bank cards. Since 2018 its remit has covered cards, mobile money and money transfers [1]. In Gabon that meant:

When What happened
2015 GIMAC card launched [6]
2018 BEAC instruction sets the scope of e-money and bank interoperability [6]
10 Jul 2020 GIMACPAY goes on sale after a pilot with about fifteen participants. By September 2020, transfers between mobile operators worked between Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea [1]
Nov 2020 Airtel Money Gabon is on GIMACPAY and moves the largest volume of transfers; almost all Gabonese banks take part for cards; UBA Gabon offers cardless withdrawals. The economy minister tells every payment provider to finish joining [2]
May 2021 Moov Money joins, via *555*10# [3]
9 Dec 2025 Government launches MaDigiPaie with the BEAC and GIMAC: payments by scanning a GIMACPAY QR code [8]
29 Jul 2026 The BEAC launches the CEMAC common payment QR code in Douala [11]

Usage. The GIMAC says GIMACPAY processed more than 600 billion FCFA across the region in 2025; its own timeline dates a 601.7 billion mark to 2023 [6]. For Gabon, the government's economic directorate reported that mobile money transfers within the CEMAC rose 11 % in the second quarter of 2025 and 64 % on a year earlier [14].

How to use it

You use GIMACPAY through your own provider; there is no GIMACPAY account.

  • Airtel Money: dial *150#, choose 9 (GIMACPAY), then 2 to send to a wallet or a bank, choose a national or international destination and follow the steps. You get one SMS when the transfer starts and a second with its final status. The list of partners per country appears in the menu and grows as new ones join [4].
  • Moov Money: dial *555*10#. At launch in May 2021 this offered transfers to other operators' wallets in the CEMAC, transfers to bank accounts, topping up a bank card from the wallet, and cardless withdrawals at GIMAC cash machines and terminals [3].
  • Inside Gabon: Airtel's GIMACPAY menu has a "Transfert National" option for sending to other operators and to banks in Gabon [4].
  • Cash without a card: GIMACPAY lets you withdraw at a bank's cash machine with a code [7].
  • Pay by QR: open your operator's mobile money app and scan the GIMACPAY code [8].

Limits and fees

Each provider sets its customer price. Airtel Money's GIMACPAY grid, read 19 October 2026 [4]:

Amount (FCFA) Fee (FCFA)
500–1,000 250
1,001–5,000 300
5,001–10,000 350
10,001–20,000 700
20,001–30,000 1,200
50,001–60,000 2,400
80,001–200,000 3,570
200,001–300,000 5,500
400,001–500,000 7,500

That is several times Airtel's fee for a transfer between two Airtel Money accounts (Airtel Money). We found no published GIMACPAY grid for Moov Money. On 30 July 2026 the GIMAC opened a review of the interbank prices for GIMACPAY services with banks, operators and aggregators [15]; the outcome had not been published when we checked.

Limits change; check your provider's current terms.

Paying shops and businesses

  • MaDigiPaie (from 9 December 2025). The government's programme to digitise public payments started with GIMACPAY QR codes. At launch more than 1,000 codes were in place at merchants and service providers, with roll-out continuing [9].
  • Libreville shops (July 2026). On 3 July 2026 the digital-economy minister asked Libreville's mayor to help sign up the capital's traders. The ministry hopes that eventually more than 60 % of local urban transactions will go through the QR code, which it says works whatever mobile money operator or bank the customer uses [10].
  • Moov Money merchants were promised acceptance of QR payments when Moov joined GIMACPAY in 2021 [3].
  • Region-wide. With the CEMAC common QR code, the BEAC plans to deploy 120,000 QR codes at merchants across the region [13].

Paying across borders

GIMACPAY is itself the cross-border system. Airtel Money lists Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea as the countries it reaches through GIMACPAY [4]; the Moov Money launch in 2021 named all six CEMAC countries, including the Central African Republic [3]. Which wallets and banks you can reach in each country depends on who has joined; Airtel's menu shows the current list [4].

Beyond the CEMAC, GIMACPAY also carries international transfers into wallets: Airtel lists Western Union, MoneyGram and WorldRemit [4]. The GIMAC piloted outgoing remittances on 70 corridors in 2024 [6]; we found no Gabon-specific launch of outgoing transfers. Transfers from Europe through apps such as Revolut are covered on their own page.

How the CEMAC QR code works

Gabon has had two GIMAC-run QR codes in quick succession:

  1. GIMACPAY QR (MaDigiPaie), December 2025. The first project under MaDigiPaie was built with the BEAC and GIMAC: a citizen scans the GIMACPAY code with their operator's mobile money app and pays without a card or cash [8]. The GIMAC lists the roll-out in Gabon among its 2025 milestones [6].
  2. The CEMAC common QR code, July 2026. Launched by the BEAC governor in Douala on 29 July 2026. Payments made with it are routed and cleared through the GIMAC platform [11]. The aim is that a merchant takes payment with a single code whatever bank or mobile wallet the customer uses [13].

Its format. The standard was made binding by Regulation n°02/26/CEMAC/UMAC/CORENOFI of 8 April 2026, which also covers automated bills of exchange and direct debit. A legal analysis of the regulation says the code follows EMVCo's QR specification (EMV QRCPS v1.1) with tag-length-value data, and ISO/IEC 18004 for the QR symbol itself [12]. That points to the EMVCo merchant-presented QR family, but we have not seen the CORENOFI specification, so its CEMAC-specific fields aren't documented here. How the earlier GIMACPAY code relates to the new standard isn't stated in what we read.

On a bill. Gabonese bills such as SEEG water and electricity are mostly paid by account number through a wallet's USSD menu (Airtel Money). A QR code on a shop counter or a government office in Gabon today is most likely a GIMACPAY or CEMAC code.

Safety

We found no warning from the BEAC or the GIMAC about a fraud specific to GIMACPAY. Since you use it through your wallet, the wallet's scams apply. Airtel Gabon's fraud page warns about callers posing as its agents [16]:

  • Never type a USSD code someone dictates over the phone, and never share your password.
  • Check the recipient's name before you confirm a transfer.
  • If there is a problem with a GIMACPAY transfer, Airtel says to call customer service on 150 [4].

See Airtel Money for the fake-agent scam in detail.

CEMAC payments and the alternatives in Gabon

Way to pay Best for Notes
GIMACPAY (this page) Sending to another network, a bank, or another CEMAC country; QR payments Used from your wallet or bank menu
Airtel Money Transfers between Airtel Money users Cheaper than GIMACPAY for the same amount
Moov Money Transfers between Moov users Runs with the bank UGB [7]
Revolut Money from Europe Sent by the person abroad; see its page for which routes are live
Bank transfer Larger amounts between bank accounts To a GA IBAN (GA report)

Sources

  1. Gabonreview, "Gimacpay : «Une exceptionnelle innovation qui va bouleverser les systèmes et moyens de paiements dans la CEMAC»", 6 Sep 2020. https://www.gabonreview.com/gimacpay-une-exceptionnelle-innovation-qui-va-bouleverser-les-systemes-et-moyens-de-paiements-dans-la-cemac
  2. Gabonreview, "Inclusion financière : «GimacPay prend de l'ampleur au Gabon», se réjouit Valentin Mbozo'o", 9 Nov 2020. https://www.gabonreview.com/inclusion-financiere-gimacpay-prend-de-lampleur-au-gabon-se-rejouit-valentin-mbozoo/
  3. Gabonmediatime, "Moov Africa Gabon Telecom rend possible les transactions dans la zone CEMAC", 18 May 2021. https://gabonmediatime.com/moov-africa-gabon-telecom-rend-possible-les-transactions-dans-la-zone-cemac/
  4. Airtel Gabon, "Services GIMACPAY" (page heading), read 19 Oct 2026. https://www.airtel.ga/Airtel-Money/GIMAC
  5. GIMAC, "GIMAC – Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l'Afrique Centrale" (home page), read 19 Oct 2026. https://gimac-afr.com/
  6. GIMAC, "A propos", read 19 Oct 2026. https://gimac-afr.com/a-propos-du-gimac/
  7. UNCDF, "Diagnostic : État du marché des services financiers numériques au Gabon", 2023. https://findevgateway.org/sites/default/files/publications/2023/2023-Diagnostic-Gabon-Final.pdf
  8. Gabonreview, "Modernisation des paiements publics : le Gabon lance «MADIGIPAIE»", 10 Dec 2025. https://www.gabonreview.com/modernisation-des-paiements-publics-le-gabon-lance-madigipaie/
  9. Gabonmediatime, "Gabon : le gouvernement lance officiellement le paiement par QR Code", 10 Dec 2025. https://gabonmediatime.com/gabon-le-gouvernement-lance-officiellement-le-paiement-par-qr-code/
  10. Gabonreview, "Madigipaie : le paiement par QR Code bientôt dans les échoppes de Libreville", 5 Jul 2026. https://www.gabonreview.com/madigipaie-le-paiement-par-qr-code-bientot-dans-les-echoppes-de-libreville/
  11. GIMAC, "Lancement officiel du QR Code Communautaire.", 7 Aug 2026. https://gimac-afr.com/2026/08/07/lancement-officiel-du-qr-code-communautaire/
  12. Droit & Médias Finance, "CEMAC | PAIEMENTS DIGITAUX : Un QR CODE de paiement communautaire homolgué sur la base du Règlement du 8 avril 2026 portant homologation des normes du QR Code, de la lettre de change automatisée et du prélèvement automatique", 31 Jul 2026. https://droitmediasfinance.com/index.php/actualites/droit-tech-fintech/1345-cemac-paiements-digitaux-un-qr-code-de-paiement-communautaire-homolgue-sur-la-base-du-reglement-du-8-avril-2026-portant-homologation-des-normes-du-qr-code-de-la-lettre-de-change-automatisee-et-du-prelevement-automatique
  13. Forbes Afrique, "La BEAC mise sur un code QR unique pour accélérer les paiements numériques dans la zone CEMAC", 1 Aug 2026. https://forbesafrique.com/la-beac-mise-sur-un-code-qr-unique-pour-accelerer-les-paiements-numeriques-dans-la-zone-cemac/
  14. OSIRIS (reprinting a DGEPF note), "Gabon : les transferts internationaux soutiennent l'activité mobile money au 2e trimestre 2025", 23 Dec 2025. https://osiris.sn/gabon-les-transferts-internationaux-soutiennent-l-activite-mobile-money-au-2e.html
  15. GIMAC, "La révision de la tarification des services des services interopérables du GIMAC", 7 Aug 2026. https://gimac-afr.com/2026/08/07/la-revision-de-la-tarification-des-services-des-services-interoperables-du-gimac/
  16. Airtel Gabon, "Airtel Money Fraude" (page heading), read 19 Oct 2026. https://www.airtel.ga/Airtel-Money-Fraude

Researched 19 October 2026. Limits and bank offerings change; the banks' own pages are authoritative.

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