Selasi Koffi Ackom, the chief executive officer of the Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference (GITFiC), is advocating the introduction of statutory regulation to facilitate digital payments across Africa.
His call follows plans by the Central Banks of Ghana and Nigeria to roll out their own digital currency in September and October, respectively.
Speaking on The Asaase Breakfast Show with Kojo Mensah on the sidelines of the 5th Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference in Accra, Ackom said: “Our central bank is rolling out a digital platform. Nigeria, I think, is also coming out with theirs. So there are fragments.
“We have made a case that one of the easiest way we can implement a single currency on the continent is looking at these areas first.”
He added: “There should be statutory regulation strong enough to facilitate digital payment systems, [with] which you don’t need to have several meetings across the continent to even come up with a currency name or look.”
The GIFTiC boss believes the proposal, if well implemented, could be the springboard for introducing a single currency to facilitate trade across the continent.
“A blockchain system [cryptocurrency] can be an easy way for us to start this single currency, where you don’t need to print currencies, where you are spending about US$50 billion in printing currencies to start with.”
Watch the conference below:
About GITFiC
This year’s conference, which is being supported by Asaase Radio, is on the theme “Facilitating Trade and Trade Finance in AfCFTA: the Role of the Financial Services Sector”.
The sub-theme is “Creating an Enabling Macroeconomic Environment in AfCFTA: the Role of the Central Banks in Africa”.
The vice-president of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will open the one-day conference.
GITFiC seeks to bring together business executives, policymakers and trade/finance experts from all over Africa and beyond to articulate ways of enhancing intra-African trade, regional integration, trade liberalisation, trade policies and trade practices on the African continent.
The aim is to turn talk into action.
The target audience for the conference covers banks, insurance practitioners, insurance companies, savings and loans companies, microfinance institutions, finance houses, leasing companies, finance and leasing companies and mortgage finance companies.
Fred Dzakpata
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