The move is to seek the opinion of all on how to develop a regulatory framework that will promote the financial inclusion of all, especially the unbanked population.
In an address, the Minister for Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, explained that the MPS is a new and emerging business opportunity and thus Ghanaians need to create an enabling and robust regulatory framework that will define the relationship between the financial, telecom and the private sectors.
According to him, the meeting is timely, as an estimated 80 per cent of the eligible population of Ghana is said to be either un-banked or under-banked, adding that with about 25 universal banks in the country, statistics show that it is only 2.2million people with bank accounts in the country.
The Minister noted that with the development of the government network under the e-Government Programme, e-payment gateways are expected to be accessible to the citizenry in the very near future.
To expand the Information Communication Technology (ICT), Mr Iddrisu disclosed that the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) is facilitating the development of common telecommunications mast in underserved areas to facilitate co-location among telecom operators to enable these communities to be reached.
He charged Ghanaians to diffuse the perception that Ghana is a cash-based economy with a weak credit system having regards to the high usage of mobile phones.
Giving his remarks, the County Director of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr Kamil Kamaluddeen, stated that UNDP is happy to support government’s intention to bring into focus the issue of mobile payment systems and the mechanisms required to drive national deployment.
He noted the need for Ghana and the UNDP to work together as key stakeholders to focus on the mechanism towards achieving a common goal of a very robust mobile payment system in Ghana.
The Executive Director of African Institute of Development Informatics and Policy (AIDIP), Dr Richard Boateng, outlined some of the issues challenging the uptake of mobile payment by consumers as the plethora of services, the bank-led model and money gram.
He said the government needs to demonstrate confidence in MPS as they are the largest provider of services while consumers build their confidence and move for more complex applications.
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Quelle/Source: Ghana Government, 02.08.2011
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