Kwame Oppong, the Head of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana, has made it known that the central bank has introduced regulatory reforms in order to foster innovation within the financial services sector, while maintaining financial stability.

As part of its commitment to innovation, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) established a Fintech Innovation Office in 2020, which is one of only a few similar units within central banks worldwide. This office, led by Mr. Oppong, is responsible for regulating, supervising, and supporting fintech in line with BoG’s commitment to innovation.

“So far, a total of 47 payment service providers and mobile money operators have been given approval – both Ghanaian and foreign across various license categories to provide payment services.”
Mr. Oppong

Mr. Oppong made these statements at the Africa Money and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Summit, where fintech leaders, investors, and other digital finance stakeholders gathered in Accra to network and establish connections.

The Africa Tech Summit, a premier tech event series, organized a two-day summit in Accra where industry leaders such as Polygon, Celo, Paystack, Visa, and Workpay shared insights on topics including payments, crypto, DeFi, mobile money, and investing.

The summit brought together corporate leaders, investors, start-ups, regulators, media professionals, and other industry stakeholders.

400 attendees, representing more than 150 companies were featured in the summit. Also featured were over 75 speakers who presented on a range of topics through panel sessions, keynotes, and fireside chats.

In addition, there were multiple networking events, masterclass sessions, and an exhibition showcasing top products and innovations.

The Central Bank’s open door policy

Mr Oppong said the central bank has an open door policy that allows it to engage with industry stakeholders, potential service providers, and innovators in order to promote safe, sustainable, and inclusive innovation.

Mr. Oppong also mentioned that the Bank of Ghana has invested resources in studying and tracking the development of virtual assets and similar products, including decentralized finance applications and non-tangible tokens.

“The study revealed some challenges in cryptocurrencies as regards to volatility, consumer protection, money laundering, terrorism financing risks, which has led various policy makers to react in short of effective regulation.”
Kwame Oppong

Based on that, Mr. Oppong said the BoG did not recognize the crypto currency for regulatory purposes.

“We have, however, noted recent efforts by the crypto currency industry to remedy some of these volatility concerns of regulators in a form of stable coin but the significant risks still persist.”
Kwame Oppong

Mr. Oppong acknowledged the challenges associated with block chain technology, but emphasized that its potential for driving innovation should not be overlooked, as it has yet to reach full maturity.

Andrew Fassnidge, the Founder of the Africa Tech Summit, explained that the summit was held in Ghana at the request of fintech industry professionals who wanted to bring the event to West Africa following the success of the sold-out Money and DeFi Summit in Nairobi earlier in the year.

Mr.Fassnidge stated that it is an exciting time in the digital finance space as cryptocurrency is growing in popularity across Africa and the new wave of DeFi is emerging.

As part of the summit, a live pitch event provided a platform for 10 ventures to present their businesses to investors and partners who were interested in investing in them.

Fassnidge pointed out that the traditional fintech, banking, and financial services industry is converging with the new world of DeFi and crypto, and that this convergence will bring about many innovations and investments.

“For instance, there are a lot of Fintechs built by African’s such as Zeepay and others, which have revolutionized payments for the man on the street.”
Andrew Fassnidge