The Bank of Ghana (BOG) is currently working to make the E-Cedi currency capable of being used “offline”.
According to Kwame Oppong, the head of fintech and innovation at BOG, said that the regulator is working on facilitating transactions without the need for power or connectivity.
“Financial inclusion is limited by the availability of connectivity and power,” Oppong said at the Ghana Economic Forum Monday. “What we hope to be able to do – and we’re one of the people pioneering this – is that the e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an offline environment through some smart cards.”
About half of Ghana’s population had access to the internet as of 2019, and 84% had access to power, according to World Bank data.
The BOG this year announced that they would be piloting the E-Cedi currency in September and is working with all banking institutions in the country for the pilot.
Nigeria is also gearing to pilot its own digital currency, the E-Naira, this October.
Source: Bloomberg Africa
