various countries embracing Central bank digital currency (CBDC) are doing this for a variety of reasons, and as far as Ghana is concerned, driving financial inclusion is key.

The focus of the CBDC in the country was confirmed by Kwame Oppong, head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana (BOG).

Speaking to the media at the Africa Money & DeFi Summit, Oppong said that the BOG is more motivated by the intention of allowing its citizens to have a decent payment tool at their disposal.

Through his role at the Bank, Oppong said the Central Bank is focused on completing the research and testing for the proposed e-Cedi, which has already started before now.

“I think in terms of CBDC, our goal is to be able to finish testing it. We have seen the results. We’re going to watch the studio each and every time in the future. But our real reason for doing it is more financial inclusion,” he said.

The Central Bank official said that the trial of the e-Cedi has included offline use in a city called Sefwi Asafo. According to him, the results obtained from the test were encouraging. They highlighted how the data obtained from e-Cedi users can be presented to bank officials through whom they can access credit facilities.

Leading a team with a huge appetite for adopting new financial innovations, Oppong also highlights how the use of stablecoins can be instrumental in settling cross-border payments.

While many countries are focused on eradicating privately issued digital currencies as Bitcoin, the Bank of Ghana, on the other hand, is focused on creating a monetary tool that can offer advanced use cases that will benefit citizens. As one of West Africa’s leading economies, Ghana will look to follow Nigeria, whose Central Bank has already launched a fully functional e-Naira.

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