By Joshua Worlasi AMLANU
The Bank of Ghana is broadening its digital finance agenda beyond payments into areas such as digital credit, embedded finance and cross-border financial services, as African policymakers intensify efforts to build interoperable financial systems capable of supporting regional trade and economic integration.
Speaking at the 3i Africa Summit in Accra, Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama said the continent’s digital finance ecosystem has moved beyond the initial phase of expanding access through mobile money and branchless banking.
“The next phase of digital finance will not be defined by payments alone,” Asiama said. “Across our markets, the basic payment infrastructure is increasingly in place. The opportunity now lies in building the next layer of value.”
According to him, that next phase will include digital credit, merchant payments, embedded finance, supply-chain finance and cross-border financial products targetted at small businesses, women, young people and the informal sector.
The policy shift comes as African regulators seek to address persistent fragmentation across payment systems, uneven regulatory frameworks and high transaction costs that continue to constrain intra-African trade despite rapid mobile money adoption.
A recent World Bank report cited by Asiama estimates that about 49 percent of adults in sub-Saharan Africa now have access to digital financial accounts, reflecting significant gains in financial inclusion over the last decade.
However, the Governor argued that the challenge has evolved from expanding access to improving integration and scalability. “The issue is no longer access alone. It is fragmentation. It is cost. It is uneven regulatory alignment,” he said. “The challenge is no longer building systems. It is connecting them.”
The central bank is advancing several regulatory initiatives to support the transition, including frameworks for virtual assets, digital credit, open banking and cross-border fintech operations.
Dr. Asiama said the Bank of Ghana’s objective is to create a “structured, predictable” regulatory environment that supports innovation while preserving financial stability and public trust.
He also stressed the importance of stronger digital identity and Know-Your-Customer systems, warning that weak authentication frameworks increase fraud risks, weaken credit quality and undermine confidence in digital financial services.
The broader regional push toward interoperability was reinforced by Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, who announced that Ghana will collaborate with Rwanda, Zambia and other African countries to pilot a continental digital trade corridor.
The initiative will focus on mobile money interoperability, digital identity for cross-border KYC, harmonised electronic invoicing and mutual recognition systems aimed at reducing friction in intra-African transactions.
“In many cases, intra-African transactions are still routed through financial systems outside the continent and denominated in third currencies,” the Vice President said. According to her, this structure increases transaction costs and delays while weakening effectiveness of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Ltd. (GhIPSS) also announced steps to strengthen payment infrastructure by migrating Ghana’s national payment systems to the ISO 20022 global messaging standard.
Chief Executive Clara Arthur said the migration will improve transaction data quality, accelerate settlement and support seamless cross-border integration with global financial markets.
GhIPSS is additionally seeking partnerships with regional and international card schemes while preparing to collaborate with virtual asset service providers following the passage of Ghana’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act.
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