Ghana’s nearly two-decade journey towards interoperable and inclusive digital payments has offered valuable lessons to countries seeking to strengthen their instant payment ecosystems.
Speaking at the opening of the 32nd Mojaloop Community Meeting (MojaCom 32) in Accra, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Ms. Clara Arthur, highlighted Ghana’s progress in building shared payment infrastructure while emphasizing the importance of continued investment in inclusion, institutional capacity and innovation.
Established by the Bank of Ghana in 2007, GhIPSS has played a central role in developing shared and interoperable payment infrastructure to support electronic payments and financial inclusion. Over the years, Ghana’s financial ecosystem has expanded beyond traditional banks to include mobile money operators, fintechs and other financial service providers, making interoperability increasingly important to how money moves across institutions and platforms.
Mrs Clara Arthur noted that while significant progress has been made, inclusion remains an ongoing priority. “Inclusion is a continuous journey,” she said, noting the need to further connect institutions serving micro businesses, SMEs and the informal sector to Ghana’s national instant payment infrastructure.
She also highlighted the importance of ensuring that payment infrastructure continues to evolve alongside new participants, business models and changing customer expectations.
The conversation at MojaCom 32 also explored the potential of open-source technology in strengthening payment infrastructure. Ghana is examining open source through the lenses of flexibility, sovereignty and institutional capability, while recognizing that technology alone is not sufficient to sustain critical national infrastructure.
“Open source is therefore as much a capability question as it is a technology choice,” Arthur said, underscoring the importance of skills, governance and institutional capacity to secure, maintain and continuously enhance payment systems.
Her message resonated with the broader focus of the Mojaloop community, which brings together central banks, payment system operators, digital financial service providers and technology partners to share practical experiences and lessons from different markets.
For GhIPSS, participation in the community provides an opportunity not only to share Ghana’s experience, but also to learn from other countries as they develop instant payment systems that are scalable, interoperable and responsive to evolving market needs.
Ghana’s experience demonstrates that technology, policy, regulation, institutional readiness and industry collaboration must advance together to deliver truly inclusive payment systems.
The engagement also provided opportunities for GhIPSS to strengthen relationships with ecosystem partners participating in MojaCom 32. Following the conference, the Chief Executive received courtesy visits from participating partners, creating opportunities to deepen existing engagements and explore areas of collaboration.
The C-Suite Executive and Staff also contributed actively to the conference programme through a number of panel discussions and workshops. Mrs. Akosua Blay, the Chief Business Officer, participated in the “Cross-border in Action: Connecting PAPSS” session, while Mr. Richard Akuoku-Sarpong, acting Head of Instant Payment, contributed to the SWIFT Policy Hub – Cross-Border Deep Dive. Mr. Kwadwo Ntim, the Advisor to the CEO, participated in the Government Payments Deep Dive, and Mr. Abdul Rahim Kunge took part in the Open-Source Technology Workshop.
The 32nd Mojaloop Community Meeting provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration and practical discussions on the future of inclusive instant payments.
For Ghana and the wider Mojaloop community, the next phase of the journey is about more than connecting systems. It is about strengthening the capacity, collaboration and infrastructure needed to ensure that interoperability continues to translate into meaningful access and opportunity.