Banking consultant Dr. Richmond Akwasi Atuahene is calling for increased scrutiny of fintech companies operating in Ghana’s remittance sector, amid concerns about discrepancies in reported figures and potential impacts on foreign exchange reserves.
In fact, Dr. Atuahene wants the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to commission international audit firms to conduct forensic audits on all fintech companies – retroactive to 2019.
He additionally suggests the Ministry of Finance and BoG ensure fintech companies reimburse BoG’s Nostro-Accounts or authorised dealer commercial banks with all foreign exchange components accrued from international remittances.
While the country is currently embroiled the fluctuating value of the local unit, Dr. Atuahene noted that foreign exchange from inward remittances can help reduce the current account deficit and stabilise the local currency against major trading currencies.
“The Bank of Ghana must acquire software that can be linked with the fintech companies’ various digital apps to track, trace and capture all inward remittances”, he adds.
He proposes the implementation of a Middleware platform using APIs and Ethernet-APL technology.
The proposals come amid growing concerns about discrepancies between World Bank remittance data and figures provided by authorised dealer banks in Ghana.
According to the banking consultant, the central bank has consistently failed to address the gap between World Bank data on inward remittances, and that of the 23 authorised dealer banks for the period between 2019 to 2023.
Indeed, he questions the handling of significant remittance inflows. Meanwhile, BoG refuts claims of losing US$8billion through inward remittances but it acknowledges a decline – stating that newly licenced MTOs and fintech companies have withheld approximately US$8billion over two years.
No doubt, improvements in international remittance data is a sine qua non and must better reflect the evolving remittance sector so that the country can reap the potential economic benefits. The instability of the cedi has profound economic implications as we have witnessed these past few months.
