The Bank of Ghana has revealed that the eCedi pilot programme, which explores both online and offline versions of the central bank digital currency, has received positive feedback from a significant percentage of participants. The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, disclosed the findings at the Payments Canada Summit in Toronto.
The pilot programme was conducted in three locations: the capital city of Accra, the town of Tarkwa, and the village of Sefwi Asafo. The first two locations explored several use cases for online payments while the offline experiment was conducted in Sefwi Asafo.
According to Dr. Opoku-Afari, Ghana has been aggressively pursuing a financial sector digitization programme to boost financial inclusion and wider economic growth. Although the percentage of Ghanaians with formal bank accounts has significantly increased in the past decade, nearly a third of the population is still unbanked. Hence, the bank opted for a token-based system for the eCedi, minting and distributing it via commercial players, one mobile money provider, two banks, and two Payment Service Providers.
The online pilots saw participants using existing banking apps for P2P, wallet-to-bank, and merchant and bill payments. In contrast, the offline experiment saw the eCedi distributed via smart card, concentrating on merchant payments. The focus on merchant payments was because, as of 2017, 99% of these transactions were still carried out in cash.
Dr. Opoku-Afari said the bank opted for a token-based system rather than an account-based system to enable the ecosystem. He also explained that any currency had to work for all Ghanaians, no matter where they were located. Therefore, the bank’s focus was on testing whether the eCedi could work for consecutive offline payments, if target users would be able to use it, and if they would want to use it.
For the most part, the eCedi pilot programme has shown that the digital currency has potential to drive financial inclusion in Ghana and boost economic growth. However, the Bank of Ghana will conduct further tests and consultations before deciding whether to implement the eCedi fully.