Pan-African digital finance rules needed to unlock borderless payments: BoG Governor

By Joshua Worlasi AMLANU

The Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama has called for coordinated pan-African regulatory frameworks to support cross-border digital finance, arguing that fragmented rules across jurisdictions are slowing the growth of interoperable payment systems and financial innovation on the continent.

Speaking at the Future of Finance Dialogues Africa dinner, an official side event of the Bank of Ghana’s 3i Africa Summit 2026, Dr. Asiama said Africa’s financial system is increasingly operating beyond national borders, requiring regulators to move toward mutual recognition of digital finance licenses, coordinated supervision and shared standards for emerging technologies.

“Africa cannot build borderless finance with fragmented regulation,” Dr. Asiama said. “The cost of continued fragmentation is borne disproportionately and often by institutions, responsible innovators and underserved populations.”

The governor proposed a system of “licensed passporting and mutual recognition” that would allow credible digital finance licenses issued in one African market to be recognized across others without undermining domestic regulatory authority. According to him, stronger trust and coordination between regulators would reduce duplication and accelerate the deployment of digital financial services across the continent.

The comments come as African central banks and fintech operators push to deepen interoperability in payments and digital banking systems amid rising mobile money adoption and increasing cross-border trade flows. Industry participants at the event identified regulatory uncertainty, fragmented identity systems and weak cross-border interoperability as key barriers to scaling digital finance services.

Dr. Asiama also signaled that the Bank of Ghana is advancing work on open banking, digital credit regulation, fintech licensing and oversight frameworks for virtual assets and tokenized finance. He warned regulators against either suppressing innovation or underestimating risks associated with stablecoins, artificial intelligence and digital assets.

“It is important that our central banks understand stablecoin risk, virtual asset regulation and tokenized value,” he said, adding that deploying AI tools in supervision without governance safeguards could create “a different kind of systemic exposure.”

The governor said future trust in finance would increasingly depend on secure data systems, interoperable digital identity infrastructure and clear consent frameworks rather than traditional branch networks alone. He added that regulatory sandboxes should evolve beyond pilot programs into pathways for firms to enter regulated markets at scale.

“The measure of a sandbox is not how many firms are admitted into it, but how many sound, well-governed institutions graduate into productive participation in the regulated market,” he said.

The event brought together central bank officials, fintech executives, commercial banks and investors to discuss regulatory coordination, consumer protection and digital finance infrastructure across Africa.

Ethel Cofie, convener of the Future of Finance Dialogues, said cross-border payments remain one of the largest operational bottlenecks for fintech firms and traders, particularly in transactions involving China, one of Ghana’s largest import markets.

“We have local companies that can fix” cross-border payment challenges, she said, noting that traders still face cumbersome processes when transferring money abroad to purchase goods. According to her, improved payment interoperability would allow fintech firms to scale while helping traders complete transactions faster and more securely.

Ms. Cofie said regulators and market operators are increasingly aligned on the need to balance innovation with financial stability and consumer protection. She described open banking as one of the most important potential reforms for Ghana’s digital finance ecosystem, particularly in enabling banks, mobile money operators and fintech firms to securely share customer-approved financial data.

“The different functions — the banks, the MoMo players, the fintech players — openly talk to each other and integrate so that you can get a better digital savings product and a better loan product,” she said.

She also cited internal market intelligence gathered by the Future of Finance Dialogues, which showed that 61% of surveyed industry decision-makers identified regulatory uncertainty as the single biggest obstacle to scaling digital finance in Africa. Cross-border interoperability and fragmented identity systems were also identified as major constraints.

Mobile money transactions across Africa already process about US$1.3 trillion annually, according to figures cited at the event, while real-time payment systems are operational in 38 African markets. Participants said the next phase of growth would depend less on expanding payments infrastructure and more on strengthening regulatory coordination, governance standards and trusted data-sharing frameworks.

Dr. Asiama said the Bank of Ghana intends to maintain regular consultations with fintech executives, banks and other industry stakeholders as part of efforts to align innovation with financial stability objectives.

“Stability and innovation are not in competition,” he said. “They are mutually reinforcing if you manage them very well.”

 

 

 

 

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