The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) hosted senior officials from the Central Bank of Lesotho, the Central Bank of Sierra Leone and Malawi Natswitch for an executive study tour focused on Ghana’s experience in building and scaling a modern, inclusive payment ecosystem.

The one-day peer learning engagement provided an opportunity for the visiting delegations to gain practical insights into Ghana’s payment infrastructure, governance frameworks, commercial models and strategies for driving adoption.

The delegations comprised Ms. Makutloano Setai, Director of Operations, and Mr. Retselisitsoe Moabi, Senior Systems Administrator, from the Central Bank of Lesotho; Mr. Albert Foday Boima, Director of National Payments, and Mr. Hilton Olatunji Jarrett, Director of Financial Stability, from the Central Bank of Sierra Leone; and Mr. Leonard Chilomo, Operations Manager, and Mr. Kennedy Chande, IT Manager, from Malawi Natswitch.

The engagement focused on five key areas of Ghana’s payments ecosystem: instant payment scheme rules and governance, pricing and commercial sustainability, government-to-person (G2P) and person-to-government (P2G) payment use cases, merchant payments and universal QR standards, and branding and ecosystem adoption.

The discussions provided the visiting institutions with an opportunity to explore how Ghana has developed shared payment infrastructure and supported interoperability across the financial ecosystem. Particular attention was given to the evolution of instant payments, the implementation of GhQR, merchant acceptance and the approaches used to build trust and encourage adoption among consumers, businesses and government institutions.

The visiting delegations also engaged GhIPSS officials on the practical considerations involved in designing sustainable payment schemes, including pricing structures, governance arrangements, compliance requirements and the development of use cases that respond to the needs of different segments of the economy.

The study tour further highlighted the importance of collaboration among central banks, national payment switches, financial institutions, fintechs, merchants and other ecosystem players in developing payment systems that are accessible, trusted and sustainable.

For GhIPSS, the engagement reinforced Ghana’s position as a source of practical experience and peer learning for countries seeking to strengthen their national payment infrastructure and advance digital financial inclusion across Africa.

The visit also provided a platform for continued knowledge exchange and collaboration among the participating institutions as they work to strengthen their respective payment ecosystems.