Central bank officials and switch operators from six African countries were in Ghana last week to learn from the national payment infrastructure provider, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System Ltd. (GhIPSS).
They came from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, as well as switches such as Rwanda Rswitch, Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited and Central Africa GIMAC.
Their visit stems from a partnership between AfricaNenda and GhIPSS to organise a peer-learning visit for selected African countries. The learning visit’s objective was to enhance the understanding and knowledge of central banks and switch operators in their deployment and management of inclusive Instant Payment Solutions.
The participants were expected to gain valuable insights into the GhIPSS scheme’s rules, business model and use-cases.
AfricaNenda is an African-led team of experts committed to unlocking the potential of digital financial services for those financially excluded across the continent, by
accelerating the scale-up of instant and inclusive payment systems. The Group settled on GhIPSS for the learning visits because of the strides it has made in developing an Instant Payment solution known as GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).
GIP has deepened financial inclusion in Ghana and it is considered one of the most advanced on the Africa continent, based on AfricaNenda’s State of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (SIIPS) in Africa report 2022. As of December 2022, GhIPSS had processed a monthly average of 17.9 million Instant Payment transactions with 55 participating financial institutions.
During the learning visit, central bank representatives participated in technical learning sessions, networking sessions and field visits.
Chief Executive officer of AfricaNenda Dr. Robert Ochola, in a statement said he hopes this peer-learning event will support the growth of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems in Africa, which the organisation considers critical to achieving universal financial inclusion by 2030.
He stated that: “We believe that Ghana’s experience can offer critical lessons and good practices for regulators and policymakers in other countries, which is aligned with the organisation’s agenda to accelerate knowledge-sharing and enhance the capacity of African institutions”.
On his part, the Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse said: “GhIPSS is excited about this partnership. as it affords us an opportunity to share the experiences and lessons learnt on our journey to achieving inclusive payments”.
Mr. Hesse is optimistic the knowledge-sharing experience will provide the needed guidance to various participating countries as they embark on
development and deployment of their instant payment solutions.
The learning visit ended on Friday, and will help the participating countries to establish relevant networks and contacts to foster further expertise-sharing.
