First Deputy Governor’s Speech – Ghana Diaspora Investment Forum 2025
Source: bank_of_ghana
Date: 2025-06-11

GHANA DIASPORA INVESTMENT FORUM 2025 REMARKS BY DR. ZAKARI MUMUNI FIRST DEPUTY GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA KEMPINSKI HOTEL JUNE 10, 2025 Mr. Chairman, The High Commissioner, Distinguished Guests, Investor Community, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1. Good afternoon, everyone. Let me first thank the Canadian High Commission in Ghana, Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited, and GIZ for the kind invitation to this year’s Ghana Diaspora Investment Forum. Distinguished Guests, this is a very important Forum given the immense contributions of our compatriots in the Diaspora towards the country’s national development and it is indeed an honour to join in the discussions. 2. Mr. Chairman, this Forum is taking place at a time that heightened trade and economic policy uncertainty, triggered by a mix of geoeconomics and geopolitical tensions , have led to significant downgrades in global growth, stalled the disinflation, and threaten to tighten global financial conditions even further. 3. Early assessments indicate that developing countries, such as Ghana, with stronger fundamentals are most likely to effectively manage t he spillover effects of these external shocks. For this reason, I commend the organisers for taking this initiative to explore the various options to position Ghana to attract investment for national development. Amid the global challenges, one low hanging fruit for Ghana is to explore opportunities to mo bilise diaspora investments through innovative financial products and services. Indeed, this must be premised on a conducive business and investor climate and sound government policies and regulatory reforms for impactful investments. 4. For these reasons, my remarks today will focus on efforts to revamp the Ghanaian economy to create the enabling macroeconomic and investor friendly environment to attract diaspora investments. Also, I will briefly touch on strengthening the financial sector and payment systems to facilitate access to investment opportunities. Recent Developments in the Ghanaian Economy 5. Mr. Chairman, the Ghanaian economy is currently on a mend, following the recent challenging years, characterised by consecutive external and domestic shocks. The implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies is yielding positive results; and over the first few months of 2025, • The economy has shown sustained growth momentum, evidenced by the Bank’s high frequency real sector indicators. • The disinflation path has kicked in strong, with a sharp decline in headline inflation to 18.4 percent in May, having remained above the 20 percent for the past three years. • Fiscal policy implementation in the first quarter of the year was broadly aligned with the 2025 budget , supported by expenditure rationalisation to accommodate revenue shortfalls. • The external sector recorded significant improvements in the first quarter, with a provisional current account surplus of US$2.1 billion backed b y increased production volumes and higher international prices of gold and cocoa, as well as strong remittance inflows. • The country’s Gross International Reserves hit a record high of US$10.7 billion in April 2025, equivalent to 4.7 months of import cover, providing enough cushion against external shocks. • Finally, the cedi has rebounded strongly against the major trading currencies supported by a combination of factors, including tight monetary policy stance, ongoing fiscal consolidation, record reserve accumulation, strict enforcement of FX market rules and improved market sentiments. 6. In the outlook, Distinguished Guests, the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals are projected to improve further to create a business -friendly environment for investors. Growth is projected to remain strong in the year. Headline inflation is expected to trend further down towards the end -year target of 12 percent, supported by tight monetary policy stance, stepped -up liquidity sterilisation efforts, fiscal consolidation, and exchange rate stability. Furthermore, the external sector is projected to remain favourable anchored on increased gold and cocoa receipts and inflows from remittance. Strengthening the banking sector to attract diaspora investments 7. Mr. Chairman, in addition to the progress being made on the macro front, strengthening the financial sector is also critical in the quest to attract diaspora investments. The sector plays a key role in mobilising diaspora capital for development by fostering trust, offering tailored financial products, leveraging digital financial platforms, and addressing barriers to investment. 8. Over the years, the Bank has undertaken comprehensive reforms to ensure that the banking sector is stable, sound, and well -capitalised to support the fast-growing Ghanaian economy. The se reforms have focused on the enhancement of the regulatory regime s; strengthening the monitoring, supervision and enforcement frameworks; and finally, building capacity and promoting ethical culture within the industry. 9. To create a secure environment for financial services and ensure the safety of customer transactions w ith the ongoing digitalisation of the banking industry, a Directive to promote Cyber and Information Security was introduced. Also, sustainable banking principles has been launched to promote responsible environmental and social practices that inure to the benefit of the economy and communities otherwise at risk. 10. In the year so far, the banking sector has remained resilient. This is evidenced by strong asset growth and continued improvements in the financial soundness indicators, although asset quality remains a concern. In this regard, the Bank has recently announced plans to issue a comprehensive directive to tackle persistently high Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) across regulated financial institutions. This will, among others, include: • Mandate write -offs of fully provisioned loans with no realistic recovery prospects, excluding related-party exposures. • Tighten restructuring rules, requiring sustained repayment before reclassification. • Enforce timely collateral recovery, especially for overdue loans, and, • Strengthen credit risk governance and require proof of effectiveness. 11. These actions form part of the Bank’s continued efforts to restore asset quality, promote sound lending practices, and safeguard the resilience of Ghana’s financial system. In addition, the Bank will undertake continuous regulatory policy enhancements to encourage more innovation through appropriately regulated technologies to drive new savings, credit, and payment products and services that promote efficient, convenient, and inclusive financial services. 12. Mr. Chairman, r emittance inflows have become a critical component of Ghana’s FX build up and it is expected that the ongoing reforms to tighten the FX rules regarding remittances will help lower costs, increase the speed of remittance services, provide a layer of security and transparency, and encourage the diaspora communities to channel more funds to Ghana. The Bank will continue to promote the development of innovative diaspora - tailored financial solutions and services to facilitate their settlement and investment plans in the country. Efforts at strengthening the payment systems to attract diaspora investments 13. Over the last few decades, Bank of Ghana has been at the forefront of innovation, laying the foundation for an effective and efficient retail payments ecosystem that is anchored on a robust interbank infrastructure. After the issuance of various regulations and guidelines to support the payment ecosystems, enactment of the comprehensive Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987) revitalised the digitalisation agenda. The new Act included the mandate to pull together the fast -evolving payment service s tartups, popularly known as the “FinTech’s”, under the regulatory ambit of the central bank. 14. This paved way for the Bank to build stronger collaboration and cooperation with the FinTech industry to achieve the shared goals to promote innovation and a safe payments ecosystem. Further to building a safe payments ecosystem as well as promoting innovation, the Bank launched the Regulatory Sandbox to support responsible innovation and nurture new business models in a controlled environment under the supervision of the Bank. Among others, the sandbox has enabled the Bank to understand the risks these innovations pose to the digital payments ecosystem to better mitigate them. It also has the adde d advantage of potentially reducing the go-to-market time frame for innovators. 15. Mr. Chairman, in anticipation of our role as a central bank in an emerging digital economy, the Bank is looking forward to developing emerging innovations such as digital assets to expand investment options . In addition, the Bank has initiated steps to develop guidelines for the regulation of Digital Credit delivery in Ghana to provide an optimal balance between innovation and financial stability. This important step, will among others, strengthen digital credit delivery, facilitated by partnerships between lending institutions and FinTech companies that are leveraging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence based on the digital footprints of consumers. Conclusion 16. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, let me emphasise that a stable economy supported by a sound financial and payment ecosystem, play critical roles in attracting investment for national development . Through the Bank’s regulatory oversight , banks and other financial institutions provide transparent and secure services to the diaspora community , with positive feedback on the economy. In the outlook, the Bank remains committed to its mandate of price and financial stability and will continue to engage with stakeholders to strengthen diasporan relations. On this note, let me once again thank the Canadian High Commission, Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd. and GIZ for making this Forum possible. Thank you.