Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has called on African nations to create the right conditions to make financial services grow responsibly and at scale.

The Governor made the call during the second edition of the 3i Africa Summit, on Wednesday in Accra, on the theme: “The Next Frontier: Shaping Africa’s integrated fintech future.”

The three-day continental event is being held by the Bank of Ghana, in partnership with the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Dr Asiama noted that digital finance was no longer at the margins of financial sector development, but central to value creation, trust building, and how economies competed, urging a move beyond financial access to building the next layer of digital financial value.

Citing a World Bank report that showed approximately 49 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa having access to digital financial accounts, he said the continent must now focus on translating that access into tangible value for ordinary people and businesses.

He noted that the progress had been driven by mobile money and branchless banking models, bringing financial services closer to underserved populations and now being reinforced by broader technological developments.

It includes digital credit, digital trade, and evolving Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) financing models, indicating that opportunity were in building merchant payments, embedded finance, supply chain finance and cross-border services.

“The challenge is no longer building systems. It is connecting them. What is required is greater clarity in how we define our priorities, and stronger coordination in how we implement them. In this context, regulation must remain firm,” he added .

On the Bank of Ghana’s own efforts, the Governor outlined a series of deliberate regulatory steps, including advancing the framework for virtual assets, issuing digital credit guidelines, progressing open banking, and supporting cross-border fintech activity.

“These are not isolated initiatives. They are part of a coherent effort to ensure that the financial system evolves in a way that is structured, predictable, and capable of supporting innovation at scale,” he stated.

Dr Asiama said the value of the Summit was its stronger alignment across markets, better coordination across regulators, and faster progress towards financial systems that were inclusive, innovative, and capable of operating at scale.

“On the foundations of innovation, investment and impact, our goal must be to ensure that these pillars are not only articulated, but effectively aligned through strong partnerships and sustained investment,” he noted.