In the past few years, the unprecedented growth of mobile financial services in sub-Saharan Africa has defied all expectations. While Kenya is often cited as a leading example of digital transformation, Ghana has recently become the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa, with registered accounts increasing six-fold between 2012 and 2017.
The country’s experience provides a fresh perspective on its digital transformation and demonstrates that technology can help modernise the financial system as well as also support greater financial inclusion.
In Ghana, mobile financial services are mostly used by those poorly served by the traditional financial sector. The 2017 Global Findex database indicates that access to formal financial services rose from 41% of adults in 2014 to 58% in 2017].
This is largely attributable to mobile accounts, with 20% of digital-wallet users being previously unbanked. These now represent about 40% of all account holders, compared to 13% in 2014.
