As Nigeria continues on its trajectory to a cashless economy, neighboring country Ghana has initiated moves to do same.
The Bank of Ghana has unveiled a comprehensive strategic plan that can enhance payment systems in the country and eventually lead to a “cash‐lite economy.” The goal of the Strategic Payments Roadmap for Ghana is to improve upon currently existing payment systems infrastructure and lead to less dependence on cash for transactions on the various payment platforms in the country. Eventually, the economy is expected to transit fully to a cash‐lite status with deeper levels of financial inclusion.
The plan was prepared by the Standard Chartered Bank and presented to the Bank of Ghana. Speaking at the ceremony to hand over the document, the CEO of the Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Kweku Bedu‐Addo, revealed that the strategic plan was a set of propositions aimed at driving the country’s economy towards a cash‐lite status.
“The implementation of the framework should help Ghana witness a drastic reduction in the dependence on cash to the more sophisticated and easy reliance on electronic payments,” he said.
As part of the propositions, the document recommended the establishment of a Payments Council which will lead the execution of the strategic plan while addressing the diversity in the country’s payment systems. Other recommendations were for the country to create an effective regulation and penalties regime for non‐compliance with any payment directives from the council and a more harmonious relationship between the national telecommunications agency and the Bank of Ghana with respect to the mobile money agenda.
Also present at the hand‐over ceremony were the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Millision Narh; Deputy Finance Minister, Mrs Mona Quartey and other representatives from the Financial Services Sector. Mr Narh indicated that the advancement to a cash‐lite economy was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders involved in the development and deployment of the payment ecosystems.
By Emmanuel Iruobe
