26TH SWIFT AFRICAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE
WELCOME ADDRESS
Dr. ERNEST ADDISON
GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA
Your Excellency, President Nana Addo Dankwa
AkufoAddo,
Honourable Ministers,
Directors and Management of SWIFT,
CEOs of Financial Institutions,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. It is an honour for me to officially welcome you all to Accra
and the 26th Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT) Africa Regional Conference.
Before I proceed any further, let me first say that we are
privileged to have H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo to grace the occasion. Your Excellency, we very much
appreciate taking time off your busy schedule to join us today.
2. Let me also thank the management of SWIFT for choosing
Ghana to host this year's session which has brought together
more than 500 professionals from over 45 countries across
Africa and beyond, including policy makers, industry leaders
and FinTechs to meet and shape market practices in Africa's
financial services sector.
3.
Your Excellency, digital innovation is creating unprecedented
opportunities for Africa to grow its economy, create jobs and
transform people's lives. New technologies and business
models are opening alternative pathways to economic growth
in emerging markets, offering opportunities to reshape our
lives and improve economic growth. In this regard, I believe
the chosen theme; 'Enabling the Digital Economy' is most
appropriate and timely.
4.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Government of Ghana's
commitment to formalize the Ghanaian economy through
digitisation is laudable. Digitisation is a key component of the
"Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda" which is firmly anchored in
leveraging technology to promote economic efficiency and
inclusiveness for accelerated development and poverty
reduction. Indeed, the President has shown keen interest and
remains committed to building an inclusive modern society.
This drive has seen the roll-out of several digital initiatives
such as, the digital property addressing system, the National
biometric ID cards which will be linked to Government
agencies to help ease identification processes and promote
integrity and efficiency in business transactions.
5.
Also, to enhance the ease of doing business in Ghana, the
Government has introduced several other digital initiatives
such as the paperless port operations to ensure smooth
operations at the ports, and the E-Justice project or the
paperless courts, which seeks to automate existing manual
filing systems in the court's registry and improve efficiency of
the justice system. These digitization processes will ultimately
improve Ghana's business environment.
6.
The Bank of Ghana recognizes the importance of the role
digital innovations play in creating a financially inclusive
economy. Consequently, the Government through Bank of
Ghana is collaborating with stakeholders including
telecommunication companies and FinTechs to digitize the
financial landscape and deepen financial inclusion.
7.
Leveraging on mobile phone technology, Ghana made
significant progress in improving financial inclusion. With the
fastest growing market in Africa with an estimated voice
subscriptions rising by 60.0 percent (25.6 million) to (40.9
million) between 2012 and 2018, mobile money accounts
have also increased over nine - fold reaching 32.6 million from
about 345,000 over the same period. At the end of 2018,
active mobile money accounts were estimated at 13.1 million
accounts.
8.
In collaboration with payment service providers, financial
technology companies (fintechs) have designed innovative
products and services to promote digital savings, lending and
investments to unbanked customers at affordable costs. Some
of these products and services include online payment
platforms, mobile banking services, Quick Response codes,
money transfer services, deployment of Point of Sale devices,
termination of inward remittances into mobile wallets, and
agency banking. More recently, mobile money processes have
been integrated with the interbank payment systems
infrastructure.
9.
As part of the broader strategy to create an enabling
regulatory environment for convenient, efficient and safe
retail payments and funds transfer mechanisms, the Bank of
Ghana has consolidated all the various regulations and
guidelines into the Payment Systems and Services Act.
10.
In March this year, the Payment Systems and Services
Act 2019 (Act 987) was passed by Parliament as part of the
continued efforts to establish a strong payment regulatory
framework for the country. In May, the Act was subsequently
assented to by, the President of the Republic, reflecting His
Excellency's commitment to the establishment of a modern
payments regulatory framework. This is another milestone in
Ghana's strategy to develop an efficient payment systems
framework to underscore the digitization process.
11.
Broadly, implementation of the Act is expected to
liberalize the country's payment system further and allow for
the entry of non-banks, direct licensing of fintechs by the Bank
of Ghana, and ultimately promote financial inclusion to
facilitate electronic means of payment. In the long-run,
Ghana's new Payment Systems and Services Act is expected
to help improve not only the payments system but also create
an enabling environment for the on-going digitization
processes in the economy.
12.
By and large, the SWIFT network provides data, reports
and important information for regulators, banks and other
financial institutions, as well as policy makers across the
globe. For example, the 2018 SWIFT report on 'Africa
Payments: Insights into African Transaction Flows' indicated
an increasing number of clearing payments are being routed
through Africa, instead of banks outside Africa. The data
showed that between 2013 and 2017, intra-African clearing
payments increased from 10.2% to 12.3%. SWIFT also
highlighted an emerging trend of increasing use of some local
African currencies for cross-border payments. This has the
potential to moderate foreign exchange risks and lower
transaction costs, which is a positive development for the
Continent.
13.
To conclude my brief remarks Ladies and Gentlemen, let
me say that leveraging on digital technology requires the
commitment and collaboration of all stakeholders. And, I
believe, the august gathering of policy makers, industry
leaders and the broad financial community at this 26th SWIFT
Conference provides the unique forum for networking,
broader consultations, education and discussions, all within a
collaborative environment. I wish you a successful three-day
Conference and hope you will find time to visit some of our
nearby tourist attractions.
Thank You.