The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, says, there are adequate policies and protections in place to strengthen Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) activities.

This will create a robust and a sound financial system to support regional trade.

According to him, Ghana’s financial sector can therefore be instrumental in meeting the funding needs of businesses in the country to trade under the AfCFTA umbrella.

Speaking with the banking and finance community, the Governor said commercial banks are required to strengthen all risk management systems and scale-up capacity in trade finance to support the private sector.

Additionally, banks and non-bank financial institutions are encouraged to increase investments in digitisation platforms as well as cyber-security systems to facilitate safe and secure trade transactions through AfCFTA. These institutional developments should complement the PAPSS and MANSA platforms through which Afreximbank will work with local businesses and financial institutions to help facilitate intra-Africa trade.

Dr. Addison urged all financial institutions to collaborate and take advantage of the opportunities offered through AfCFTA to boost the country’s trade efforts.

Ghana has significant role to play in financial integration in West Africa

The Governor also said Ghana has a significant role to play in the integration of the financial system of ECOWAS.

This process includes capital market integration, regional currency convertibility/quoting and trading national currencies, harmonisation of the legal and regulatory frameworks of the banking sector, harmonisation of legislations; and cross-border payments system integration.

According to him, the implementation of these reforms would ensure the development of a robust financial sector in Ghana to participate in funding trade transactions presented through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) platform.

“Ghana’s financial sector can play a pivotal role in leveraging AfCFTA to boost the country’s socio-economic development. This can be achieved through investments in infrastructure and financial technology to support regional trade transactions. These favourable conditions and Ghana’s position as the gateway to West Africa, among other factors, earned Ghana the rights to host the AfCFTA Secretariat”, he mentioned.

He said that Ghana’s banking sector is currently well capitalised, with adequate liquidity to support transactions generated through increased trade.

The Central Bank has also put in place robust regulatory and supervisory frameworks to support in-country and cross-border trade transactions.