First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, has advised businesses to incorporate digitilisation in their business models to ensure the viability of their businesses in the post-pandemic era.
According to the Deputy Governor, failure on the part of businesses to do so will have dire consequences for the survivability of businesses in the post-pandemic era.
Speaking at the 5th CEO Summit themed; Digital Transformation: Powering Business and Government RESET for a Post-Pandemic Economic Resilience – A Public-Private Sector Dialogue, Dr Opoku-Afari stated that although the incorporation of digitalisation in business models coupled with the associated costs will not be an easy one, business have to be resolute and do so, having a long-term view of their operations in mind.
“This transition will not be an easy one as there will be costs associated with changing business models. But this is where businesses will have to be resolute and remain steadfast in the pursuit of their ideals and take a long-term view of where they want to see their operations a decade from now,” he stated.
Adding that some businesses have begun to integrate digital technology in their operations to ensure their relevance as well as grow their business traffic.
To support and encourage business to integrate digitalization in their business models – particularly SMEs – the deputy Governor noted that the BoG has licensed some payment service providers to provide merchant acquiring and payment aggregation service for businesses in the country.
According to Dr Opoku-Afari, digital payment solutions made available to businesses by the licensed payment service providers have been designed in a manner that does not impose high infrastructure cost and complex connectivity requirements.
”The Bank of Ghana has issued a three-tier merchant digital account with proportionate onboarding requirements to guide financial service providers in meeting the peculiar needs of small and medium scale enterprises. This policy change is expected to facilitate acceptance of digital payments by small and medium-size enterprises so as to provide convenience to their customers and also expand the geographical reach of their business,” he stated.
Concluding his remarks at the summit, Dr Opoku-Afari noted that the BoG is very much aware of the changing times in the country’s business environment and continues to monitor the evolution of new trends.
Adding that the BoG stands ready to continue to provide and build upon the requisite infrastructure needed for development and smoothness of business operations as well as ensure that the policy environment for businesses is enhanced and fine-tuned in a post-COVID-19 environment.
