Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is former Vice President of Ghana
Ghana has remarkably been ranked the number one country in the world in the latest ranking of countries with the most efficient and regulated mobile money system in the world by GSMA.
Ghana, the only country in Africa with an interoperable mobile money system, which allows for cross transactions between mobile money wallets and banks, and vice versa, emerged number one ahead of countries like Qatar and Brazil, in the Mobile Money Regulatory Index (MMRI) by GSMA.
The GSMA Mobile Money Regulatory Index, introduced in 2018, is an interactive tool that measures the effectiveness of mobile money regulatory frameworks of about 90 countries globally that meet the key framework.
The Index 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.
SIX DIMENSIONS AND 26 CATEGORIES
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.
GHANA’S MOBILE MONEY SYSTEM
Ghana’s mobile money network is built on a robust national identity system, which has synchronised unique national identities with financial institutions and telecommunication networks.
With transactions enabled between all mobile money wallets and all bank accounts, Ghana operates a unique system, which makes every mobile money wallet functions as a bank account, thereby, also projecting Ghana’s financial inclusion index.
BAWUMIA VINDICATION
Many would see the confirmation of Ghana by the GSMA’s MMRI at number one globally, as a great vindication of former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who championed the implementation of Ghana’s mobile money interoperable system in the past eight years.
Dr. Bawumia continuously highlighted the volume of work done by stakeholders and the proud status of Ghana as a global leader in mobile money system.
