NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, September 29, 2017

At an event bringing together key government and business players, the Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance released a report documenting the country’s progress in creating an economy where everyone can pay and get paid digitally, instead of cash. The results show the country has made significant gains, including almost 100 percent of government payments to people and payments within the government now processed digitally. The findings also reveal there are opportunities for providing more choice to customers.

This move is already translating into direct benefits to people, particularly women, support for small businesses and cost savings for the government. The data also predicts that if the government continues to make progress, savings could reach over GHS 250 million (nearly $60 million) each year, which may result in more than GHS 1 billion ($230 million) by 2020.

“The future really is digitization and how we can leverage on it for the benefit of our citizens. This is why digitizing initiatives such as our flagship conditional cash transfer program Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is a key milestone,” said Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister for Finance of the Republic of Ghana.

Photo courtesy of Paul.