2nd Dep. Governor urges integration of financial inclusion into business models of financial service providers
Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Elsie Awadzi-Addo, has called for the infusion of financial inclusion strategies into the business models of financial service providers.
The infusion of financial inclusion strategies into the business models of financial service providers, the Second Deputy Governor noted, is to help make a significant push for financial inclusion and ensure that the excluded, underserved, and unserved are brought into mainstream financial services,
“For us to make a real push for financial inclusion and ensure that the excluded and underserved and unserved are brought into mainstream financial services, then we need to think about financial inclusion not as a fringe issue but rather we need to consistently make sure that this is mainstreamed into policy and regulation and the business models of financial service providers and payments service providers as well. This then becomes the underlying business model of financial service providers,” she quipped.
“We need to think about how can we do business, make policies and regulations that think about the least and those at the bottom of the pyramid who are unserved or underserved,” she added.
The Second Deputy Governo made the assertion speaking at the 3i Africa Summit themed, “Unleashing the FinTech and digital economic potential of Africa”, on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
Speaking further at the Summit, Mrs Awadzi-Addo averred financial inclusion will continue to hinder the transmission of monetary policy as long as the significant catch of the Ghanaian population remains outside the banking system.
Further noting that financial inclusion will continue to keep a large portion of businesses outside the formal sector and the tax net, impacting revenues and the development efforts of the Government.
According to the World Bank Global Findex Data, financial inclusion increased to 76% of the world’s adult population having access to bank accounts compared to the 51% financial inclusion rate in 2011.
The World Bank also notes that in 2021, over 1.4 billion people around the world were unbanked and unserved.
The 3i Africa Summit has brought together key players in the financial, investment, policy-regulatory and digital technology domains in Africa. These include 3 Heads of State, 10 Governors of Central Banks within and outside Africa including the Bank of Ghana’s Dr. Ernest Addison, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso and the National Bank of Rwanda’s Hon. John Rwangombwa.
In addition, there are over 150 Chief Executives and Senior Executives of FinTechs and Financial institutions across the globe including Serigne Dioum, CEO of MTN Group Fintech, Dr. Patrich Saidu Contech, CEO of Africa Fintech Network, Saurav Bhattacharya, CEO of Proxtera, Conrad Kraft, Strategic Advisor, DigitalEuro Association, and Co-Founder and CFO, Tradelite Solutions, Mariame MacIntosh Robinson, President of Qenta Inc., Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at MAS.
Over the three-day period, the participants will engage in over 15 sessions with speakers and discussants contributing to over 60 topics aimed at finding the pathways that deliver the most traction in the drive to generate momentum and achieve progress in line with the Summit’s theme, “Unleashing Africa’s Fintech and Digital economic potential”.
