The country’s central bank, the Bank of Ghana, revealed that it is a step closer to testing its central bank digital currency (CBDC). The deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana stated recently that the country’s shift towards digital payments had made the need for a CBDC even greater. Ghana’s economy has undergone a great transformation in the last decade, Deputy Governor Maxwell Opoku-Afari stated. This has led to an uptake of digital payment technologies.
Regulators in Ghana are working to establish a fintech sandbox.
According to the local outlet Pulse report, the regulators in Ghana are working to establish a fintech sandbox to encourage innovations in the digital payments industry. The regulators will use the sandbox to test digital payment concepts, with a CBDC being on top of the list. The central bank of Ghana revealed its CBDC plans later last year, with the central bank governor noting that it would be tested in a sandbox environment. The governor stated the national digital currency would complement the rapid growth of the country’s mobile money industry.
China to become the first major nation to issue CBDC.
China has reportedly accelerated its process of issuing the digital yuan dubbed as DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) to provide post-CVID-19 stimulus. China has been working on its national digital currency for over five years and is now very close to issuing it to the general public. The People’s Bank of China is expected to launch its national digital currency sometime this year. The centralized digital currency is being tested in four different cities in China. Several economists and crypto leaders have claimed that China’s digital currency could threaten the global dominance of the US dollar. Several other central banks around the globe are also researching and looking into national digital currencies.
