BoG transacts cross-border trade with eCash

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it has successfully con­ducted a cross-bor­der trade transac­tion payment with its digital currency, the eCedi.

The Director of Fintech and Innovation at the BoG, Kwame Oppong, who announced this in Accra on Wednesday as part of the 3i Africa Summit 2024, said the transaction which was exe­cuted in April this year, was done with the stable coin of Singa­pore under the Digital Economy Semi-Fungible Token (DESFT) project.

He explained that the eCedi is an electronic version of Ghana’s currency and one digital curren­cy was equivalent to one Cedi and was currently being piloted before a national rollout.

Mr Oppong said eCedi formed part of efforts of the gov­ernment to facilitate local and cross-border trade and payment.

Mr Oppong said the live eCedi transactions was done through the proposed Ghanaian domestic retail Central Bank Digital Cur­rency (CBDC) platform.

The Director of Fintech and Innovation explained that the cross-border trade transaction payment affirmed the potential of the eCedi to interface with various cross-border credential and payment platforms.

“With its interoperability with the DESFT system, and verifiable credentials via Universal Trusted Credentials, the eCedi has the potential to facilitate the partici­pation of Ghanaian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in inter­national trade in a cost-effective manner,” he stated.

According to Mr Oppong the prospective introduction of the eCedi was poised to significantly enhance Ghana’s dynamic pay­ment ecosystem, fostering inclu­sive growth and innovation while improving consumer experiences.

Giving a background of the project, the Director of Fintech said the BoG in collaboration with Monetary Authority of Singapore initiated the DESFT project in June 2023 and the first phase of the project saw the design and development of a trusted credential system.

He explained that DESFT project was aimed at supporting Small and Medium-sized Enter­prises (SMEs) in Africa to engage in international trade by remov­ing significant obstacles they faced, such as establishing trust with overseas trade partners and obtaining support in cross-bor­der payments and supply chain finance.

That, Mr Oppong said enabled SMEs to transform key infor­mation such as basic credentials, licenses, certificates, and trade records into verifiable digital cre­dentials on a secure distributed ledger system, allowing potential trade partners and financial in­stitutions to efficiently verify the authenticity of such information.

The three-day 3i conference dubbed ‘Innovation, Investment and Impact’, and which ended on Wednesday, was organised by the Bank of Ghana, Development Bank Ghana and Elevandi, a sub­sidiary of the Monetary Author­ity of Singapore on the theme “Unleasing Africa’s Fintech and Digital Economic Potential.”

It was attended by Heads of State, ministers, Central Bank governors, members of the diplo­matic corps, the private sector and captains of industry and cross section of the public.

 BY KINGSLEY ASARE