Central bank officials and switch operators from six African countries were in Ghana last week, to learn from the national payment infrastructure provider, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System ltd (GhIPSS).
The officials were from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and switches such as Rwanda Rswitch, Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited, and Central Africa GIMAC.
The visit stems from a partnership between AfricaNenda and GhIPSS to organise a peer learning visit for selected African countries.
The objective of the visit was to enhance the
understanding and knowledge of central banks and switch operators in the deployment and management of inclusive Instant Payment Solutions.
The participants were expected to gain valuable insights into GhIPSS’s scheme rules, business model and use cases.
AfricaNenda is an African-led team of experts committed to unlocking the potential of digital financial services for the financially excluded across the continent, by accelerating the scale-up of instant and inclusive payment systems.
The Group settled on GhIPSS for the learning visits, because of the strides GhIPSS had made in developing an Instant Payment solution known as the GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).
GIP has deepened financial inclusion in Ghana and it is considered one of the most advanced on the Africa continent, based on AfricaNenda’s State of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (SIIPS) in Africa report 2022.
As of December 2022, GhIPSS had processed a monthly average of 17.9 million Instant Payment transactions with 55 participating financial institutions.
During the learning visit, central bank representatives participated in technical learning sessions, networking sessions and field visits.
Chief Executive officer of AfricaNenda, Dr. Robert Ochola, in a statement said he hoped the peer-learning event will support the growth of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems in Africa, which the organisation considered critical to achieving universal financial inclusion by 2030.
He stated that “we believe that Ghana’s experience can offer critical lessons and good practices for regulators and policymakers in other countries, which is aligned with the organisation’s agenda to accelerate knowledge sharing and enhance the capacity of African institutions.”
On his part, the Chief Executive of GhIPSS, Archie
Hesse, said, “GhIPSS is excited about this partnership as it affords us the opportunity to share the experiences and lessons learnt on our journey to achieving inclusive payments.”
Mr Hesse was optimistic the knowledge sharing experience would provide the needed guidance to the various participating countries as they embarked on the development and deployment of their instant payment solutions.
The learning visit, which ended on Friday, would also help the participating countries to establish relevant networks and contacts to foster further sharing of expertise.
