ba es o f gh a na nk t. 1 9 5 7 goodwill message delivered by the first deputy governor, dr maxwell opoku - afari at the launch of the 20th anniversary celebration of it consortium ghana limited 23rd april 2021 with a high sense of pride and appreciation, i extend my warm congratulations and best wishes to it consortium ghana limited on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its foundation. twenty years in the life of a fintech in any part of the world is no mean achievement. it becomes even more significant when placed in the context of a developing country, and truly this achievement is monumental for both it consortium and ghana. a trip down memory lane to 2001, bank of ghana had commenced in earnest implementation of interbank payment infrastructures aimed at modernising the banking sector and guided by a strategy that is focused on banks. in an era when the word “ fintech ” was alien to the library of finance vocabulary and the thought of technology companies providing financial services would have been considered sacrilegious, it consortium was established. with unusual appreciation of bank of ghana ’ s direction of financial sector development, it consortium has competently supported the digital transformation agenda of the ghanaian financial services industry with digital solutions relevant to our developmental needs. a stellar example is the chango crowdfunding product, the first of its kind by a licensed institution in ghana, introduced to improve on the traditional “ susu ” model for raising funds among a group of persons. it consortium ’ s commitment to the norms of the financial services industry over the years has been commendable. at a time when the regulatory regime did not recognise fintechs, key management personnel of the company frequently interacted with officials of bank of ghana on regulatory issues. it is no wonder then, that it consortium is one of the first few fintechs to be licensed by the bank of ghana as an enhanced payment service provider. remarkably, as a wholly - owned ghanaian company and staffed by persons trained and worked in ghana, the company has demonstrated fidelity to the digital transformation agenda of the ghanaian economy. its contribution to the conceptualisation, designing and implementation of the flagship ghana. gov platform which is at the core of the digital economy project is laudable. indeed, the successes of the company in the ghanaian digital financial services ecosystem signifies the capacity of the ghanaian to deal with the challenges confronting us as a country. recently, i had the privilege of gracing the inauguration of the new office premises of it consortium. the beautiful ed

, as the sole regulator of the mobile money sector, the central bank will ensure that right things are done by the various players in the sector. we will continue to regulate and monitor activities within the space and ensure that all participants play by the rules. the bank of ghana has a key responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the financial system to underscore the trust that is central to financial deepening and development. it is therefore critical to ensure the confidentiality of transactions, privacy of data collected by operators in this space ( including personal and financial data ), the security of transactions, and smooth operations of all stakeholders and regulators providing complementary services in this space. 12. the interoperability that exist between e - zwich, bank accounts and mobile money wallets, offer participants an endless opportunity to develop various value added services to the public. let me therefore challenge fintechs to work closely with banks, non - bank financial institutions and especially rural and community banks to come out with several other products and services that will further bring banking and financial transactions closer to the public. i see endless opportunities with this financial inclusion triangle and i hope the players also realise the enormity of opportunities it presents. 13. to conclude, i wish to thank all stakeholders who in one way or the other have helped in the full implementation of the interoperability project and to say that the future of ghana ’ s financial inclusiveness and cash - lite society is well within reach. 14. thank you for the attention.