Ghana’s central bank governor on Thursday positioned the West African country as a rising player in the redesign of global financial markets, arguing that emerging economies are increasingly shaping financial innovation rather than merely adopting systems created elsewhere.
Opening the ACI FMA World Congress 2026 in Accra, Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama said the global financial system was entering a new era driven by digital payments, artificial intelligence, virtual asset regulation and regional financial integration.
“Financial markets are being reshaped in real time,” Asiama told delegates gathered at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in the Ghanaian capital.
“They are becoming more digital, more connected, and more shaped by emerging economies than they have ever been.”
The governor said Ghana’s recent economic stabilisation had created the foundation for deeper financial market reforms after years of turbulence that saw inflation surge, reserves weaken and debt restructuring efforts shake investor confidence.
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“Macroeconomic stability is not only good for financial market development,” he said. “It is the infrastructure on which financial market development becomes possible.”
Ghana suffered one of its worst economic crises in decades in 2022, with inflation peaking at 54.1 percent in December that year as the country battled a debt crisis and severe currency depreciation.
But Asiama said conditions had improved significantly, pointing to inflation falling to 3.4 percent by April 2026, reserves rising above 13.9 billion dollars and fiscal consolidation efforts beginning to take hold.
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He also said the Bank of Ghana had reduced its policy rate by 1,400 basis points since early 2025, while the banking sector had been recapitalised and resumed lending activity.
The remarks come as Ghana seeks to reposition itself as a financial technology and digital payments hub in Africa amid intensifying competition among emerging markets to attract investment into financial infrastructure.
Asiama argued that emerging economies were increasingly designing their own financial systems and standards, rather than simply importing frameworks from financial centres such as New York or London.
“The conventional story of financial markets in emerging economies has been one of catch-up,” he said.
“That story is ending.”
The governor highlighted Ghana’s interoperable payment ecosystem, developed with the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), which supports instant transfers, mobile money integration and QR-code interoperability.
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He said Ghana’s central bank digital currency project, the e-Cedi, had completed its pilot phase and was now being explored for cross-border settlements and wholesale payments.
“The strategic question is no longer whether to build digital sovereign infrastructure,” Asiama said.
“The strategic question is what economic activity we choose to enable once we have it.”
He also defended tighter regulation of digital finance, rejecting the idea that regulation slows innovation.
“Markets that lack credible regulatory architecture do not innovate faster,” he said.
“They fragment, they fail, and they erode the trust on which the next wave of innovation depends.”
Ghana passed its Virtual Asset Service Providers Act in 2025 and is now implementing the broader regulatory framework governing digital assets and fintech operations.
Asiama said the country was also strengthening cybersecurity systems, expanding supervisory technology and working with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ghana Stock Exchange to align oversight across banking, capital markets and digital finance.
The governor further called for stronger regional integration in African financial systems, including harmonised payment platforms and licence passporting arrangements for fintech companies operating across borders.
“A payment initiated in Accra should clear in Abidjan or Lagos as easily as it clears in Kumasi,” he said.
The ACI FMA World Congress brings together central bankers, financial institutions, regulators and market participants from around the world to discuss trends shaping global financial markets.
Asiama said Ghana did not claim to have solved the challenges facing the international financial system, but argued that countries like Ghana were increasingly contributing ideas and frameworks to global financial market discussions.
“Ghana has chosen to be part of that redesign,” he said.
“Not as a participant. As a contributor.”
