Ghana is committed to increasing access to formal financial services to 85 percent of adult population by 2023, says the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
The increase in access to financial services according to the BoG is expected to create economic opportunities and contribute to poverty reduction.
Delivering the welcoming remarks at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) virtual working group meeting, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, noted strategic measures put in place to achieve the target are; financial stability – access, quality, and usage of financial services – financial infrastructure, financial consumer protection, financial literacy and capacity.
Speaking further, Dr Addison noted Ghana has come a long way in fostering its financial inclusion agenda with the implementation of several policy measures geared towards banking the ‘unbanked’ and formalising the informal financial sector.
“Starting off, the Bank facilitated the passage of the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987) and set up a Payment Systems Strategy (2019-2024) to provide the enabling legal and regulatory environment for the orderly development of the payment ecosystem. These connect seamlessly with the country’s National Financial Inclusion Development Strategy (NFIDS) framework,” remarked the Governor.
Also speaking on the increasing numbers of financial technology firms (FinTechs) in the country’s ecosystem, Dr Addison posited the country has wholly embraced the role of FinTechs in the country with the set up of the FinTech and Innovation Office at the Central Bank to drive the process of innovation towards financial inclusiveness.
“In furtherance of this, the Bank has recently issued a framework for Digital Sandboxes as test beds and platforms to minimise time to market rate of innovative solutions. The Regulatory Sandbox serves as a platform for innovative technology solutions to be tested in a live environment within defined parameters and timelines. These sandboxes provide enabling environment for the development of digital talent and knowledge for scaling up financial technology firms,” explained the Governor.
Concluding his welcome remarks, Dr Addison stated the BoG’s policy efforts are geared towards supporting the financial services industry with the view to accelerating Ghana’s transition to a financially digitised, innovative, and inclusive economy.
Noting that, with high penetration of mobile money and increased digital payments, Ghana is well positioned to become a financially included society in the medium-term.
