Bank of TanzaniaTL;DR Breakdown
- Ghana begins working on its central bank digital currency
- Other African countries working on a CBDC
Ghana has joined the shortlist of African countries to begin work on developing their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The country’s apex bank, Bank of Ghana (BoG) reportedly, is taking steps to introduce a CBDC to the country.
Ernest Addison, governor of the country’s central bank, revealed that the BoG was in the advanced stages of creating a CBDC. He said this during a news conference in Ghana’s capital, Accra, on Monday.
Dubbed the e-Cedi, the governor said the digital currency would pass developmental and evaluation phases before a decision will be made on a national rollout as works are still in the pipeline.
He also revealed that the last phase of the project would be a pilot study that would finalize feasibility issues before the CBDC goes into national circulation.
Addison said the design phase of the digital currency is near completion, and implementation teams are already on standby for the project’s second phase. The pilot study will reportedly involve a limited rollout of the planned e-cedi for mobile payments.
Addison said Ghana is looking at how it will pioneer digital currency in African soil. The BoG has been exploring the possibility of creating a CBDC since late 2019. In June 2020, the central bank confirmed that it was ready to pilot an experimental e-cedi project.
Kenya, South Africa also in CBDC race
East Africa, Kenya, last year announced its plan to launch its own digital currency.
According to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor Dr. Patrik Njoroge, the country is forced to look towards a CBDC because of the rapid growth of private cryptocurrencies. He also discloses that Kenya is feeling left out and need to get ready for the future.
South Africa, the second-largest economy in Africa, began talking about processing a digital currency earlier. South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) began researching the potential of an electronic digital currency in 2016.
