SONA 2024: Akufo-Addo touts Ghana’s leading spot in access to financial inclusion in Africa
President Nana Akufo-Addo has touted Ghana’s enviable position of being ranked the number one country with the highest access to financial inclusion on the African Continent.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, the President averred the attainment of the feat is due to the implementation of mobile money interoperability and generally, the formalisation of the economy through digitalisation.
“Mr Speaker, on coming into office seven years ago, my government took the decision, as we promised, to modernize and formalise the economy through digitalisation. In this regard, we have embarked on one of the most far-reaching digitalisation exercises in Africa. Up from the figure of nine hundred thousand (900,000), which we inherited when we came into office in 2017, we have, thus far, enrolled 17.6 million on the Ghanacard, and, therefore, provided unique biometric identity to the majority of Ghanaians.
“We have also implemented a digital property address system with unique addresses for all properties in Ghana. Furthermore, through the implementation of mobile money interoperability, we have also provided access to financial services for adult Ghanaians through mobile money accounts that are interoperable with bank accounts,” he quipped.
“Ghana is now ranked number one in Africa in terms of access to financial inclusion. We have digitalised the provision of public services at the ports, DVLA, NHIS, GRA, Births and Deaths, Registrar of Companies, ECG, Ghana Water, amongst others. Ghana is ranked number one in West Africa and number seven in Africa in e-Governance.
“Ghana is making giant strides in the area of digitalisation, thereby improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public sector, and accelerating the growth of our economy. We are definitely going to be part of the digital revolution that is sweeping the world,” he added.
Ghana has been recognized as the only country in Africa to achieve 100% access to financial inclusion on the continent.
This feat was achieved through the successful implementation of the Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) system, which integrates all payments platforms across banks, fintechs and telcos, allowing every Ghanaian to make and receive instant payments.
