Stakeholders in the financial industry are calling for deepened collaboration between the private sector and government to achieve Ghana’s desired digital economy.
According to them, the development of Ghana’s digital economy and the need for the use of digital tools and interventions has become critical, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers on.
Speaking as part of the first forum of the month-long Citi Business Festival on the theme, “Re-imagining the Digital Economy”, Chief Executive Officer of IT Consortium, Romeo Bugyei noted that for the desired outcome to be attained, certain fundamental factors and measures have to be put in place.
“The conversation for us sits a lot with the regulator because whatever we do we want to make sure that there is safety. Anytime you talk about the digital economy, we know the medium is currency. Once we move from the physical to the digital, it means our currency moves into the digital space. We all know that government is the biggest employer and spender. Government is supposed to give service to citizens. For some of the services that government gives, if we don’t have the means to consume it, then the citizens can’t benefit,” he said.
The Head of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana, Kwame Oppong, reiterated the need for more investment in cybersecurity and collaboration between sector players to develop a formidable digital economy.
“The cybersecurity concern is a major one and within the context of Bank of Ghana, we had a Cyber and Information directive to guide the operations of the entities we supervise. This defines some basic standards to make sure that they and their customers are protected, and that the overall sector is safe and secure. Unfortunately, the human being is always the weakest link in the process. From a regulatory standpoint, it is not just about defining the regulatory framework, but also the Bank of Ghana has worked on a Financial Sector Security Operation Center to make sure that we can collaborate with the consumers. It is about information sharing and the efficiency with which we share information regarding cyber and information threats and so, that coordinating point is important,” he said.
The forum was hosted by Kokui Selormey-Hanson with panel members from the Bank of Ghana, IT Consortium, ABSA Bank and MTN Ghana.
ABSA Bank is the main sponsor of the Citi Business Festival 2022 with support from MTN Momo and MTN Business Support, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and IT Consortium.
