The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called for collaboration in the promotion of fintech and digital initiatives to enhance Africa’s integration.

He said fintech was bridging access gaps, particularly for underserved and remote communities, and cross-border digital payments were gaining traction, promising to ease trade frictions and accelerate regional commerce.

The Governor was speaking at the 3i Africa Policy Forum on the theme: “One Africa, One Market: Driving Innovation, Investment, and Impact for a Connected Future.”

The forum presented a unique opportunity to build shared momentum and aimed to address key levers for driving Africa’s digital financial integration, including attracting sustainable investment into fintech and digital finance, aligning regulatory approaches to unlock cross-border payments and empowering SMEs as drivers of regional trade and innovation.

Others are operationalising the Digital Trade Protocol to support regulatory convergence, ensuring responsible and secure adoption of stablecoins and digital assets and unlocking investor capital through strategic de-risking frameworks.

Leaders in policy, regulation, finance, and technology who are shaping Africa’s digital transformation attended the forum.

Dr Asiama said the forum was not merely to reflect on last year’s Summit’s outcomes, but to translate them into clear, executable strategies.

“The focus is implementation: scaling fintech, digital assets, and cross-border payment solutions to deepen financial inclusion and intra-African trade in alignment with the AfCFTA,” he said.

He said regulatory sandboxes and innovation hubs were taking root, offering safe environments to test new technologies within the realities of the African contexts.

He said these gains were being reinforced by modern regulatory approaches, pilot programmes, innovation offices, and digital public infrastructure frameworks, all designed to promote inclusive finance, enhance SME participation, and unleash the creativity of Africa’s youth and entrepreneurs.

The Governor said the Bank remained firmly committed to the agenda and the work with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), and more recently the bilateral fintech passporting collaboration with the National Bank of Rwanda, reflected their conviction that regional integration was achievable through trust-based partnerships.

“We are also proud to announce our collaboration with the National Bank of Rwanda and the Global Financial Technology Network (Singapore) on the Next-Gen Digital Payment Infrastructure Project (DPI),” he added.

This initiative aims to modernise Africa’s cross-border payments ecosystem through a central bank-led, innovative-enabled approach, co-developed with fintechs and financial institutions.

The project will support scalable pilots that can serve as templates across the continent, accelerating interoperability and unlocking the full potential of Africa’s digital economy.

In a keynote address, Vitaliy Kramarenko, African Department Deputy Director, IMF, urged policymakers to focus on the development of supporting infrastructure, digital finance innovation, and regional trade facilitation, among other priorities.

He said creative solutions, including private-public partnerships, were needed to continue to make further progress in digital infrastructure development.

He said despite making huge progress in mobile penetration with cellular subscription increasing rapidly since 2000, reaching about 80 subscriptions per 100 people in sub-Saharan Africa more needed to be done.

“Also, despite falling behind other countries in traditional access to finance, proxied by the number of commercial bank accounts per adult, the region is ahead in mobile financial access, like usage of mobile money accounts,” he added.

Mr Kramarenko urged Governments to provide essential payment infrastructure and sound policy frameworks to mitigate risks, build resilience, and harness the benefits of digital payments.