Ghana’s Central Bank Wants Digital Currency Available on Mobile Apps

Ghana is looking to make sure its digital currency will work on a popular payment platforms operated by mobile-phone service providers, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (March 15). The proposed use of eCedi in the West African country must be intuitive and improve financial inclusion, the Bank of Ghana said.

“It is important that the eCedi is implemented to complement and enhance the existing payment
systems,” the central bank said. “The various existing electronic and mobile payment solutions will therefore have to be interoperable with the eCedi to enable their utilization of the eCedi.”

As a result, the regulator said, it must work seamlessly with mobile money, which has become a way for consumers to pay for goods and services with their phones.

Based on the report, it’s unclear how this would be accomplished. Mobile-money transfers have a fee, but eCedi transactions are free of additional charges.

Africa’s leading gold producer was among 14 countries piloting central bank digital currencies, according to the Atlantic Council. Another nine have launched a virtual tender. Worldwide, central banks are testing digital forms of their currencies to allow for fast and cheap international money transfers.

Last month, Zambia, the south-central African country, became the latest nation on the continent to explore adopting a central bank digital currency (CBDC), cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

See also: Zambia Climbs Aboard the CBDC Train but Hits the Brakes on Crypto

The Bank of Zambia, the country’s central bank, said it sees the merits of a CBDC to promote financial inclusion and is planning to have research finished soon with the possible implementation of a CBDC by the end of the fourth quarter, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (Feb. 9).

“The results of the research will form part of the input in the policy considerations on whether to introduce a central bank digital currency in Zambia,” Nkatya Kabwe, acting assistant director of communications at the Bank of Zambia, told Bloomberg.