By Daniel Bampoe
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called on Ghana’s financial technology sector to move beyond rapid growth and focus on building a resilient, trusted, and value-driven digital financial ecosystem.
In remarks delivered at a high-level engagement with licensed fintech institutions in Accra, the Governor positioned the digital finance evolution as a deliberate national achievement—driven by bold entrepreneurs, adaptive institutions, and a regulator committed to ensuring innovation serves the public good.
“Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem did not evolve by accident,” he noted, adding that the country has become a continental reference point for digital payments, with mobile money now a daily utility and interoperable instant payments a functioning reality.
Dr. Asiama acknowledged that fintech innovation has significantly expanded financial inclusion, bringing millions of previously unbanked Ghanaians into the formal financial system. However, he cautioned that rapid expansion now comes with greater responsibility.
“With scale comes crucial consequences,” he said, stressing that innovation must be matched with governance, resilience, and public trust.
He outlined three key risks confronting the sector: the danger of unregulated scale creating systemic vulnerabilities, innovation without consumer protection undermining inclusion, and speed without safeguards eroding confidence in the financial system.
The Governor highlighted recent regulatory measures introduced by the Bank of Ghana to address these risks while maintaining an innovation-friendly environment.
Among them is the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), which he said is designed not to suppress innovation but to bring clarity, accountability, and transparency to emerging digital asset activities.
Similarly, new directives governing digital credit services aim to ensure that the rapid growth of app-based lending remains fair, responsible, and sustainable.
He also pointed to the revised Cyber and Information Security Directive (CISD) 2026 and the onboarding of fintech firms onto the Financial Industry Command Security Operations Centre (FICSOC), emphasising that cybersecurity has become central to financial stability.
