Adnan Adams Mohammed
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Association in their latest Mobile Money Regulatory Index (MMRI) has adjudged Ghana as having the best mobile money (MoMo) system with regards to driving the Financial Technology (FINTECH) ecosystem.
Ghana placed above countries with remarkable mobile money systems such as Qatar and Brazil. Ghana’s competitive edge above its peers is due to the fact that, the mobile money network of the West African nation is built on a robust national identity system, which has synchronised unique national identities with financial institutions and telecommunication networks.
Ghana operates a unique system with transactions enabled between all mobile money wallets and all bank accounts, making every mobile money wallet function as a bank account, thereby also projecting Ghana’s financial inclusion index.
Ghana’s shine at the global space comes the same week the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) resolved after the 4-day summit that, “adopting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and digitising economies, are indispensable to the growth of Africa.”
The General Secretary of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, speaking at the forum highlighted the importance and indispensability of digitalisation in Africa’s economy, and the need for digital trading on the continent.
As a step towards attaining this on the continent, he revealed that the Africa Digital Trade Protocol, is ready and will be adopted next month, by the continent’s heads of state.
“We have established the protocol on digital trade. The last instrument of that protocol will be adopted by our heads of state next month in Addis Ababa. The protocol on digital trade responds exactly to what the President has just said,” said the AfCFTA General Secretary, in response to comments by the President of Botswana during a special roundtable.
The AfCFTA General Secretary acknowledged the cutting edge innovation of young Africans, and the ability to create entrepreneurship through Africa’s digital economy.
“By the year 2050, Africa will have the youngest workforce in the world. Those jobs will have to be created intra Africa. We will not be able to import jobs from somewhere else so Africa’s digital economy, we believe, is a very, very important aspect of intra Africa trade. And it actually addresses day-to-day challenges that all of us are battling with.”
Consequently, Botswana’s new President, Duma Boko, acknowledging that young Africans constitute majority of Africa’s population, called for a new approach to development, adding that the adoption of digital technology, which he described as “the language of young people” in every aspect of African economies, is the way forward to addressing “many challenges.”
Apparently, as part of the call for Africa’s adoption of the digital economy, the AfCFTA also raised concerns about the lack of seamless payment systems in Africa, and called for urgent implementation of payment interoperability on the continent.
“The issue of payments for example. I live in Ghana. There is a direct flight to Nigeria. When I travel to Nigeria, I take my direct flight. But when I send money, it goes somewhere else first. It should be the same; that we have a seamless interoperable payment system in Africa to address this challenge of youth unemployment,” said.
“We also, in the same protocol, have far reaching provisions on emerging technologies, on improving SMEs, which will create an environment where we will see more investment in digital public infrastructure.”
“While we have come a long way, we do recognise that we still have much work to be done. But I believe that in any endeavour, the starting point has got to be to write the laws. That is how the investors around will have the confidence to invest in digital technologies in Africa, to invest in youth entrepreneurship and finally to invest in trade finance.”
Linking the successes of Ghana at the global GSMA MMRI to the resolve of the patrons at the 2025 WEF reflects the talents Africa is endowed with when the necessary support is given.
The GSMA Mobile Money Regulatory Index which is an interactive tool that measures the effectiveness of mobile money regulatory frameworks of about 90 countries globally, was introduced by the global telecom standard giants GSMA.
The MMRI includes six dimensions covering 26 indicators, and Ghana’s mobile money system emerged the best after all six main dimensions and 26 broad categories were analysed.
The six dimensions and 26 categories are:
Authorisation: eligibility, authorisation instruments, capital requirements, international remittances.
Consumer protection: safeguarding of funds, consumer protection rules, deposit insurance.
Transaction limits: entry-level transaction limits, entry-level monthly limits, entry-level balance limits, maximum transaction limits, maximum monthly limits, maximum balance limits.
Know-Your-Customer (KYC): permitted identifications, KYC requirements, KYC proportionality.
Agent networks: agent eligibility, agent authorisation, agent activities, agent liability.
Investment and infrastructure environment: financial inclusion strategy, affordability, ID verification infrastructure, interoperability, settlement access, interest payments.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s success could not have been possible without the personal resolve of former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who championed the implementation of Ghana’s mobile money interoperability system in the past eight years.
The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation that helps business and society thrive.
The GSM Association (commonly referred to as ‘the GSMA’ or Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile) is a non-profit industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide. More than 750 mobile operators are full GSMA members and a further 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem are associate members.
