Bank of Ghana to Pilot Digital Cedi by September

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) will begin the pilot of a Central Bank Digital Currency; the Digital Cedi by September this year, 2021. This was disclosed by the first Deputy Governor of the Bank, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari.

While addressing the attendees at the beginning of a two-day workshop for journalists about the understanding of the dynamics of monetary policies in a post pandemic era as well as for Business advocacy, he stated that the importance of a digital Cedi cannot be overemphasized in this condition of the economy.

Dr. Maxwell notes that the decision to pilot the digital currency is part of the Bank recognizing the need for digital payments and creating a platform to facilitate it according to report by Ghanaweb;

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“Digital Currency is part of the Central bank acknowledging the need for digital payments and the digital delivery of financial services. By this, the bank of Ghana will provide a platform on which we can add more value to digital transactions.”

He added that the bank would take time to test the technology before it is launched to the general public;

“We have to take time to design it with all the security features and so have started it in a pilot phase through what we call a sandbox to learn lessons before we can open it to the general public.”

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He further stated that the People’s decision and approval would decide if the Central bank would launch the digital currency or not. The governor added that the CBDC in view is FIAT currency but just in digital format;

“The Central Bank’s digital currency is FIAT money, it is cash on its own so that the financial institution like banks and fintechs will be able to create value addition on the digital cash”.

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