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Experts call for reforms to close gaps in Fintech ecosystem

Industry leaders urge stronger policies and collaboration to boost fintech growth

NewsCenta by NewsCenta
October 17, 2025
in Business, Main
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Fintech ecosystem
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Ghana’s fintech industry, once celebrated as one of the most dynamic in Africa, is facing a decisive test. Behind its impressive growth trajectory lie deep structural and regulatory gaps that threaten to slow progress, erode trust, and stall innovation.

At the 2025 Fintech Stakeholder Forum in Accra, industry leaders, regulators, academics, and civil society representatives dissected these gaps and proposed urgent solutions to realign the sector with national development goals.

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Fintech ecosystem
Shaibu Haruna, CEO of MobileMoney LTD

Held under the theme “Harnessing Ghana’s Fintech Potential: Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Credit and Digital Assets,” the forum—organised by MobileMoney LTD, a subsidiary of MTN Ghana—brought together key players from across the ecosystem. Their consensus was unmistakable: the industry’s future depends not on more innovation alone, but on responsible governance, stronger enforcement, and trust-centred financial inclusion.

Regulatory gaps, weak enforcement

Speakers agreed that Ghana’s fintech landscape, though technologically advanced, is constrained by inconsistent regulation, slow policy execution, limited financial literacy, and waning public confidence.

Fintech ecosystem
Prof. Peter Quartey, Economist and former Director of ISSER

They warned that these weaknesses—if unaddressed—could undermine the sustainability of digital finance and exclude the very people it aims to empower.

Fintech ecosystem
Mrs Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, Chief Product and Services Officer at MoMo LTD

Regulators, led by the Bank of Ghana’s Second Deputy Governor, Mrs. Matilda Asante-Asiedu, acknowledged that while fintech has expanded financial access dramatically, the next frontier is ensuring transparency, fairness, and consumer protection.

“Ghana’s fintech transformation must be built on trust, ethics, and regulatory discipline,” she declared in her keynote address. “We are not merely discussing innovation but defining new rules of trust.”

Ethel Coffie, Founder and CEO of Edel Technology Consulting

Mrs. Asante-Asiedu said digital finance across Africa had evolved “from an experiment into the infrastructure of opportunity,” citing how mobile money adoption on the continent has soared—from just 12 per cent of adults three years ago to more than 50 per cent today, facilitating over $850 billion in annual transactions.

But alongside this rapid evolution, she said, came new risks—cyber threats, predatory lending, and unregulated digital asset schemes—that demand vigilant oversight and smarter policy tools.

She revealed that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) had recently uncovered more than 400 illegal lending platforms, warning that innovation without integrity could erode public confidence and destabilise the system.

“Our responsibility is dual,” she said. “To protect the integrity of the financial system while promoting innovation that advances inclusion and efficiency.”

Fintech ecosystem
Selorm Branttie, Vice-President of IMANI

BoG’s blueprint for responsible digital finance

Outlining BoG’s regulatory roadmap, Mrs. Asante-Asiedu announced the rollout of the Digital Credit Directive, which enforces transparency and ethical lending practices across platforms.

In parallel, the forthcoming Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill—developed jointly with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC)—will set the foundation for a transparent, risk-aware digital asset market.

She said the Bank’s short-term priorities include operationalising the digital credit directive, introducing a virtual asset licensing regime, and expanding consumer redress and financial literacy initiatives nationwide.

In the medium term, the central bank plans to deploy supervisory technologies (SupTech) and artificial intelligence to monitor systemic risks in real time while strengthening collaboration with cybersecurity authorities.

Mrs. Asante-Asiedu affirmed the Bank’s vision to position Ghana as a regional hub for responsible digital finance, where entrepreneurs can access credit seamlessly across platforms through secure, verified digital identities.

“Digital finance is not an end in itself,” she concluded. “It is a bridge between opportunity and access—between innovation and inclusion.”

From policy to action 

While regulators focused on structure and discipline, academics pushed for speed and implementation. Professor Peter Quartey, former Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), argued that Ghana’s fintech potential would remain unrealised unless policies moved swiftly from paper to practice.

“We’ve written the frameworks, launched the directives, and held the conferences,” he said. “Now we must act. This should have been done yesterday.”

Fintech ecosystem
Clara Arthur, CEO of GhIPSS

Prof. Quartey identified regulatory inertia and delayed enforcement as two of the most crippling obstacles facing Ghana’s digital finance ecosystem. He said that while BoG’s digital credit directive was a “game changer,” its impact would only be felt when rolled out aggressively across the banking and fintech ecosystem.

According to him, Ghana’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) stand to gain most from rapid implementation.

“With digital platforms, loans can be disbursed in real time instead of waiting months for bank approvals. This speed of convenience promotes SME growth and job creation,” he explained.

Prof. Quartey proposed developing an API-driven credit marketplace that would enable banks and licensed fintechs to share data securely, expand credit access, and promote transparency.

He also advocated piloting digital credit models in partnership with rural and community banks, supported by sustained financial literacy campaigns to educate consumers about borrowing responsibly.

“If we build trust and embed risk mitigation measures into our systems, financial inclusion will become sustainable,” he said.

He concluded with a powerful appeal: “Let’s create a powerful architecture for inclusion—not as a compliance exercise, but as a strategic national mandate.”

IMANI flags regulatory delays and missed opportunities

Policy think tank IMANI Africa brought a data-driven critique of Ghana’s fintech landscape, highlighting how regulatory ambiguity continues to stifle innovation and cost the country potential revenue.

IMANI Vice President Selorm Branttie disclosed that fintech companies operating in Ghana had collectively raised $127 million in capital, underscoring investor confidence in a market valued at $192 billion.

Yet, he said, regulatory delays—often lasting 18 to 24 months before product approval—remain a huge disincentive for startups.

“This hinders innovation and raises compliance costs unnecessarily,” Branttie lamented.

He also drew attention to the unregulated digital asset sector, revealing that about 3.4 million Ghanaians—roughly 17% of adults—engage in cryptocurrency-related transactions valued at over $3 billion annually.

He described this as “an untapped source of innovation and tax revenue.”

To close these gaps, Branttie urged Ghana to adopt global best practices, referencing Switzerland’s functional token classification and Singapore’s regulatory sandbox model as examples that balance flexibility with consumer protection.

“If we strengthen multi-agency coordination—like the EU’s approach—we can close existing regulatory gaps,” he said.

He added that fintech success should not only be measured by transaction volumes—expected to reach GH₵2.5 trillion in 2025—but by how well the ecosystem protects users and promotes sustainable inclusion.

“We must regulate, not to restrict, but to protect,” he emphasised.

Branttie further called for the harmonisation of the Open Banking Initiative with the National Data Harmonisation Framework, arguing that integration of these systems would cement Ghana’s leadership in Africa’s fintech ecosystem revolution.

Collaboration and market-led reform

For the private sector, the most pressing challenge is alignment—ensuring that regulation, innovation, and consumer protection move in tandem.

Shaibu Haruna, Chief Executive Officer of MobileMoney LTD, said Ghana’s fintech industry had matured beyond experimentation and now required deeper partnerships among regulators, banks, and innovators.

“The forum is a space where collaboration, innovation, and regulation meet,” he said.

“Our discussion today focuses on how we can collectively harness the power of digital credit and digital assets to deepen financial inclusion, empower small businesses, and contribute to national development.”

Mr. Haruna praised the Bank of Ghana for its proactive leadership, especially through its Fintech ecosystem and Innovation Office, which he said showed “the regulator’s readiness to adapt to new realities.”

However, he warned that regulation must evolve alongside technology.

“If innovation outpaces policy, we risk losing trust. But if regulation lags too far behind, we risk stifling growth,” he said.

Haruna urged for co-created policies developed with practical industry input and called for continuous dialogue between regulators and fintech players to ensure reforms reflect market realities.

“At MobileMoney Limited, we believe that meaningful progress happens when we engage, listen, and build together,” he said. “This is not just dialogue—it’s a shared responsibility for shaping the future of digital finance in Ghana.”

Promoting responsible borrowing 

The forum also spotlighted the issue of responsible lending and borrowing, as Sylvia Otuo-Acheampong, Chief Product and Services Officer at MoMo LTD, revealed new initiatives to protect consumers.

Out of nearly 18 million MoMo customers, only about four million currently access digital credit—signalling a vast market for expansion.

Yet, Sylvia cautioned that this growth must be managed responsibly to prevent debt distress.

She announced the introduction of a loan checker feature across partner platforms to prevent customers from taking multiple loans simultaneously.

“We’re also developing non-intrusive collection systems that replace aggressive SMS reminders with customer-friendly prompts triggered when users initiate transactions or apply for new loans,” she said.

The aim, she explained, was to make credit management “humane, efficient, and customer-centric.”

She further encouraged banks to view fintechs not as competitors but as partners for scale.

“Traditionally, banks have looked within themselves. But fintech ecosystem offers an immediate, scalable base for reaching customers in need of credit,” she noted.

Ethel Coffie, Founder and CEO of Edel Technology Consulting, emphasised that the issue of trust in Ghana’s fintech ecosystem goes far beyond individual users.

She described it as an “infrastructure of trust” that operates across multiple layers — between consumers, service providers, banks, regulators, and even data centres.

According to her, digital finance cannot thrive if these institutional relationships lack confidence and integrity.

“It’s not just about whether customers feel safe using digital platforms—it’s about whether institutions trust each other with data, compliance, and enforcement,” she said.

Coffie argued that discussions around digital trust often focus too narrowly on consumers, ignoring the vital role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that form the backbone of Ghana’s economy.

She urged regulators to adopt innovative oversight tools, such as regulatory sandboxing, to encourage responsible digital lending tailored to the needs of SMEs.

“If we create a trusted digital framework that supports them,” she noted, “we are not just improving access — we’re strengthening national development.”

Drawing lessons from Kenya, Coffie pointed to the Central Bank of Kenya’s 10-year digital financial strategy, which ties financial inclusion directly to citizens’ financial well-being.

Fintech ecosystem

While Kenya had improved access and literacy, she said, the average citizen’s financial health had declined, underscoring the need for deeper, more sustained reforms.

“Kenya has gone beyond ensuring access and literacy to tracking financial wellbeing at the municipal level,” she explained, calling for measurable indicators that show whether people truly benefit from digital finance.

Clara Arthur, CEO of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) highlighted that only 42 % of Ghanaians currently trust digital financial systems — a statistic she called “a wake-up call for all stakeholders.”

She said that while Ghana’s interoperability system is internationally celebrated, its next phase must focus on embedding trust through enhanced security, consumer education, and inclusivity.

She cited pilot programs that used interactive voice recordings (IVR) in local languages to educate market women and traders, emphasising that communication strategies must meet users where they are.

“People must receive education in the language and format they understand,” she said. “You can’t just gather them for one workshop and expect permanent results.”

From growth to integrity

By the end of the forum, participants were unanimous: Ghana’s fintech ecosystem revolution must now evolve from a story of access and growth to one of integrity, inclusion, and accountability.

The message from regulators, industry players, and academics was clear — Ghana’s future in digital finance depends on closing the policy gaps, accelerating reform, and rebuilding public trust.

Post Views: 128
Tags: Bank of GhanaMatilda Asante AsieduMTNMTN GhanaMTN Ghana FoundationMTN Group
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