Bank of Ghana to promote financial inclusion through CBDC project

Kwame Oppong, an executive at Ghana's central bank, told Cointelegraph that a CBDC could empower its citizens to use a "decent payment method."

As more and more countries make progress in terms of the development and implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the central bank of Ghana aims to continue and complete its research on CBDCs in the goal of financial inclusion, according to Kwame Oppong, the head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana.

In an interview with Cointelegraph's Elisha Owusu Akyaw during the Africa Money & DeFi Summit, Oppong explained the reason behind the West African country's venture into CBDCs. According to the government official, their main goal at the moment is to complete the tests and eventually give their citizens the option of using a "decent method of payment". He explained that:

"I think in terms of CBDC, our goal is to be able to finish testing it. We've seen the results. We're going to review the study every time in the future. But our real reason for doing this is more financial inclusion."

The official said that in offline pilots of their 'E-Cedi', the CBDC of Ghana in a town called Sefwi Asafo, participants were able to buy goods and services from merchants in all sorts of places. places without any internet connection. Oppong thinks another advantage of a CBDC is that the data is generated by the participants. The fintech executive explained that this data can help people become eligible for loans if they provide the information to banks.

Oppong also highlighted the potential cost savings if a CBDC is implemented in the country. He said that when CBDCs are implemented, there is a lot of potential in terms of cost reduction due to its instant settlement feature.

Despite the potential benefits of the CBDC, the central bank official reiterated that the world is still at the stage where various entities are trying to determine its pros and cons. “I think as a society we n...