The Central Bank and FSD Africa (FSDA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of a Credit Market Development Programme in Ghana. This signals a promising partnership between both organisations around credit markets.   The Credit Market Development Programme is aimed at identifying and helping to address constraints to credit market growth in the country. This is to enable both bank and non-bank credit providers to expand appropriate credit provision to all areas of the economy, including both individual consumers and businesses. Through the Programme, BOG and FSDA hope to facilitate greater financial inclusion for all segments of society, as well as support business growth and contribute to poverty reduction. FSDA will provide financial and technical support to the Programme while BOG will lead its implementation, including convening and engaging a range of credit market stakeholders, such as fellow regulators, banks, microfinance institutions, credit unions, digital credit providers and consumer representatives.  Key components of the Programme will include a detailed market diagnostic, the design of an ongoing credit market monitoring programme and technical training of BOG staff and other relevant stakeholders in the utilisation of credit data for improved regulation and market expansion.   The Second Deputy Governor of BOG stated that the implementation of the Credit Market Development Programme is intended to support stable and sustainable credit expansion in Ghana, and will be of benefit to individuals and businesses alike.  He noted that “Central banks in countries such as ours have a key role to play in promoting financial sector development. "The Credit Market Development Programme will play an important role in creating an enabling framework to help develop Ghana’s credit system, in removing obstacles to credit growth and in supporting credit delivery to all segments of society".  Given recent progress in the stabilisation of Ghana’s economy and improvements in business growth, the timing of the Programme is opportune and should help to ensure that an expanding and efficient credit market, in turn, supports an expansion in business and an improvement in the livelihoods of Ghanaians across all walks of life.    The Programme in Ghana joins a number of similar projects that FSDA is supporting in other countries across the continent, including Zambia and Tanzania.  This will be the first such programme in West Africa and FSDA looks forward to the expansion of its support to credit market development in other countries in the West African region. Mark Napier, FSD Africa’s Director expressed his full support to the Programme, indicating that  “FSD Africa sincerely hopes that this will be the first step in a long-term collaboration with BOG, to the benefit of the Ghanaian citizens and the Ghanaian financial sector.”  He added that, for the majority of Africans, the ability to build or acquire assets is extremely constrained.  Access to credit becomes a necessity, the means by which people and businesses can survive and ‘stay in the game.’