Ghana at 'Advanced Stages' With Digital Cedi, Central Bank Governor Says

Bank of Ghana Gov. Ernest Addison also warned against “unregulated” cryptocurrencies.

AccessTimeIconJun 4, 2021 at 10:23 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:06 p.m. UTC

The Central Bank of Ghana is “in the advanced stages of introducing a digital currency,” Gov. Ernest Addison said during a press conference in Accra earlier this week.

The West African country boasts one of the first central banks on the continent to say it was working on a digital currency, looking at the concept of an e-cedi, Addison said.

“We are quite advanced in that process," Addison said. "With these types of things, you have to go at it in phases and the first phase was really on the design of the electronic money and the team that has gone quite far in the design phase, they are looking at the implementation phase."

The next will be a pilot “where a few people would be able to use the digital cedi on the mobile applications.” After that the bank will decide whether the incipient central bank digital currency (CBDC) is feasible and what needs to be tweaked, Addison told reporters.

In February, Ghana’s central bank partnered with Emtech, a digital transformation consortium, to launch a sandbox focused on areas like blockchain, CBDCs and financial inclusion.

During his speech, Addison warned against “unregulated” cryptocurrencies.

“I think there is a lot more emphasis on looking at digital money which is backed by the state, backed by the central banks. These private forms of money really are not able to perform the functions of money effectively,” he said.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.