Last year, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) started piloting their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the E-Cedi. The BOG has stated that it’s currently testing the E-Cedi offline feature in the Western North Region in a town called Sefwi Asafo.
For the online features, BOG’s E-Cedi testing is limited to Vodafone Cash users, CalBank customers, and IT Consortium in Accra and Tarkwa in the Western Region.
The E-Cedi’s offline feature will allow users to make use of digital currency without the requirement of the internet. Select users in Sefwi Asafo are testing the E-Cedi to purchase food, groceries, and drinks.
Pilot testing of the E-Cedi s expected to be completed before the end of the year. There’s expected to be an official app for users to use to make purchases.