The Bank of Ghana (BoG) remains committed to the pilot project of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), said the bank’s first deputy governor.

Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari made the comment during a virtual stakeholder workshop on payment systems and services, according to a GhanaWeb report on June 8.

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In the spring of this year, the central bank established an Office of Immediate Bitcoin and Innovation to foster the development of the domestic industry, and in recent years it has adapted its organisational structure to respond to major changes in the payments sector.

Despite these approaches to encourage electronic cash transactions, Opoku-Afari stressed that the bank’s specific pilot plans for the CBDC remain strong.

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The Bank of Ghana announced interest in a CBDC last fall
As indicated in the report, the Board of Governors established a Payment Systems Department in 2016 and has since promoted a number of digital interbank payment systems in the country.

In reviewing the institution’s initiatives to date, Opoku-Afari stated that the BoG has consistently demonstrated „leadership and foresight in creating an environment conducive to competitive, innovative and inclusive financial sector development“.

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As reported, the Bank of Ghana has also authorized the Commercial Bank of Ghana to issue electronic money, and announced for the first time its interest in establishing a CBDC in the fall of 2019.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ernest Addison, then revealed that the development of the CBDC would be carried out within a regulatory framework, with the declared „possibility of issuing an e-cedi in the near future“.

CBDCs outside Ghana
The World Bank’s plan reflects a growing interest in CBDCs on the continent, and the National Bank of Rwanda has announced its own research into issuing a digital currency as a means of increasing transaction efficiency and fostering economic growth.

In the global context, China has made progress with recent pilots of its digital yuan in several cities, but has not yet announced a fixed timetable for the introduction of the currency throughout the country.