Three institutions, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), will launch a $5.6 million Ghana Digital Financial Services initiative in Accra next week.
A CGAP research has found that financial inclusion in rural Ghana has increased from 44 per cent in 2010, to 72 per cent in 2015, and while the number of mobile money transactions has grown tremendously, service providers report slow adoption of mobile money usage and a high number of inactive customers.
According to the IFC, the aims of the initiative are to advance financial inclusion in Ghana through the use of new technology and innovative business models.
The initiative funded by SECO, will be implemented by the IFC and CGAP in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and the financial industry.
“The program will support regulatory and market capacity, and provide direct technical assistance to two industry actors to increase the reach of digital financial services in support of inclusive economic growth,” it said.
Mobile money transactions are growing in Ghana. And the Bank of Ghana had said it was building a platform to integrate mobile money into mainstream banking.
A former Governor of the Bank, Dr. Henry Wampah told journalists in Accra Monday November 16, 2015 that the Bank is ‘working’ on building a platform to integrate the system into mainstream banking, adding that the mobile money transactions have started going through the banking system.
Mrs. Elly Ohene-Adu of the Banking Department of the Bank of Ghana told the media that as at June 2015, about GH¢229 million mobile money transaction flows were recorded.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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