inaugural euromoney conference is taking place at a time that ghana is emerging as a major player in financial inclusion and digitisation of the banking system in west africa. the world bank global findex report released in april 2018 revealed that the share of adults owning bank accounts in ghana increased to 58 percent in 2017 compared with the sub - saharan africa average of 43 percent, and up from 41 percent in 2014 driven mainly by innovations in the digital finance space. 5. more recently, ghana ’ s payment system has witnessed significant changes on account of the growing role of financial technology firms ( fintechs ) and payment innovations. a recent survey conducted by the bank shows that there are 71 fintechs providing both front - and backend services to ghana ’ s banking sector. these developments are broadly in line with the country ’ s developmental agenda of formalising economic activities through digitisation to enhance growth prospects. 6. to further drive the transformation of financial systems, partnerships between financial institutions and fintechs have enhanced the provision of digital payment products in ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 response to consumer demand. the development can also be attributed to the on - going efforts by the bank to promote digital payments as an alternative to cash transactions with emphasis on speed, convenience and efficiency. 7. digitisation affects the way financial markets operate. financial market infrastructure including securities and settlement systems, trade repositories, card payment networks, clearing and settlement of funds involves many players such as gateways processors, payment aggregators and merchants that are not subject to licensing by central banks. the central banks must have a clear vision on the framework that will drive the process including the setting up of infrastructure that could reach a wider segment including the rural areas. the framework must also be interoperable and ensure competition among the operators. it must also include an appropriate financial consumer protection framework to engender public confidence. regulators are therefore challenged to define their role in a constantly evolving dynamic environment. 8. in response to that, the bank has recently reviewed, amended, and consolidated the existing payment systems ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 regulatory framework. the new draft payment systems and services bill 2017, which has been approved by cabinet and being prepared for consideration by parliament unifies previous laws and guidelines relating to payment services and e - money operations and sets the norms and standards and regularize actors in the payment system space. 9. broadly, the new bill

ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 euromoney ghana / west african conference building a digital business and financial ecosystem opening keynote address by dr. ernest addison governor, bank of ghana kempinski hotel, accra september 25, 2018 ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 your excellency, vice president of the republic of ghana – alhaji dr. mahamudu bawumia, deputy governors of the bank of ghana, honourable ministers of state and members of parliament, the senior external adviser, euromoney conference, representatives of mastercard foundation, stakeholders in the digital finance sector, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed. 1. good morning and it is a pleasure to participate in this euromoney ghana / west africa conference on building a digital business and financial ecosystem. before proceeding, let me thank euromoney for choosing accra as the host city for this conference and also for providing such a unique platform for industry experts, regulators, and policymakers to deliberate on digitization of business and the financial ecosystem. i believe these deliberations would facilitate and enhance the pursuit of financial inclusion by countries across the west african sub - region. 2. ladies and gentlemen, a decade ago the importance and criticality of payment systems was only heard and understood exclusively within banking circles. payment ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 services were entirely a space dominated by banks. customers of banks wrote cheques that were issued by banks and deposited into accounts held by banks. banks settled payments among themselves through a clearing arrangement. overtime images of cheques facilitated clearing ; even as electronic payment developed, debit and credit cards were initially issued by banks. today, this has changed considerably and the payment systems space has grown to include telecommunication many non - bank companies and actors, financial including technology firms. financial digitization has unleashed a wave of financial products and services at minimum cost to meet current business demands for financial services. digitisation brings many benefits and can help scale up access to financial services through mobile phones, pos and access points through an agent network. 3. the consumer - experience with financial services is rapidly transforming on several fronts. for instance, across west africa, consumer interfaces are gradually moving online and physical notes and coins are being replaced by electronic forms of payment. ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 4. ladies and gentlemen, this