The Bank of Ghana says it has adopted a cautious approach with the piloting of the digital currency – the e-Cedi, despite anticipation of the introduction of the electronic currency by a cross-section of Ghanaians.
According to its Head of Innovation and Fintech, Kwame Oppong, the Central Bank is following the due process in piloting of the digital currency and is therefore not taking any risk and chances at all.
The piloting of the e-cedi begun in September 2021 and is expected to last for about 18 months.
Speaking at the Absa Bank-UPSA Law School Quarterly Banking Roundtable discussion on the topic “Digital Currencies, Regulated Banking and The Future of Money”, Mr. Oppong said so far so good for the piloting of the e-Cedi.
“We are very cautious to remind everybody that we are running a pilot, we are trying not to test the dearth of water. And so we want to understand how the dynamics will be. Like I said the technology is straightforward.
“We are fortunate to have a partner that we carefully selected with 160 years’ experience in the currency business and has sophisticated equipment [Giesecke+Devrient]. So we’re trying to make the right decisions all along”, he explained.
“This is very serious and has major implications, so we are not taking any risks, we are not taking any chances. So we are being deliberate about it.”, Mr. Oppong added.
He stressed that the Bank of Ghana will accordingly inform the public about the next step of the implementation of the e-Cedi.
“When this pilot is over as a Central Bank and as a policy institution, we will notify the public about what the next steps are. Continue to share your inputs and feedback as this process goes on.”
Chief Risk Officer of Absa Bank, Ghana, Adolph Kpegah, said banks would be ready to incorporate the e-cedi into their portfolio of transactions, adding, the financial institutions have over the years integrated technology into their operations.
“In terms of having the basic issues, yes I should say the banks have generally what it takes to deploy and raise deposits via digital means. And if it happens to be the Central Bank’s digital currency, yes they would be able to do so.
“Assuming, the Central Bank [BoG] made such an announcement today, give a maximum…within 18 months to 24 months, all banks will be up and doing in my view. So my direct answer is we have absolute confident banks will be able to do that (meet the target)”.
