Govt to set up Fintech Innovation Fund — Dr Bawumia By Emmanuel Nkansah –

The Government is to set up a FinTech Innovation Fund to support Start-ups to drive Ghana’s digital revolution.

The initiative is to ensure that the country leverages on the power of technology to improve productivity and connectivity to empower individuals through fintech startups, as well as small and medium-scale businesses to increase innovation, and efficiency in the operations of institutions.

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, announced this in Accra yesterday at the official press launch of the maiden 3i Africa Summit.

The three-day summit, to be held in Accra, is scheduled for May 13-15, 2024, on the theme: “Unleashing Africa’s FinTech and Digital Economic Potential”.

The event, being organised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), in partnership with Elevandi, a subsidiary of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, would attract governments, businesses, policy-makers, academia, investors and thought leaders.

Participants are expected to discuss and collaborate on unlocking Africa’s full potential on fintech and digital economy, especially innovation.

Vice-President Bawumia, who has championed the government’s national digitalisation agenda, over the past seven years, said the path to Ghana’s digital revolution was through fintech, hence, it was imperative to support them financially to thrive.

He, therefore, encouraged all stakeholders in the fintech and digital industry to join forces in improving the legislative and regulatory environment in order to enhance the payments ecosystem and position Ghana on the path of sustained financial inclusion.

He said it was against that background, therefore, that the government, in the past seven years, had focused on pursuing a digital transformation agenda as part of its economic strategy at the individual and institutional levels.

“The objective is to ensure digital empowerment for a prosperous future in this accelerated digital era, where the use of modern and emerging technologies have become commonplace and a catalyst for growth, progress, and prosperity,” Dr Bawumia stated.

Collectively, he said: “Our presence here also underscores the belief in the power of technology to enhance productivity and connectivity to empower individuals through fintechs, startups as well as small and medium-scale enterprises that increase innovation with potential to improve efficiency in the operations of institutions and businesses.

He said it was against that background that the government had over the past seven years focused on pursuing a digital transformation agenda as part of its economic strategy at the individual and institutional levels, in all sectors.

That agenda, he explained, was to ensure digital empowerment for a prosperous future in this digital era where, he said, the use of modern and emerging technology had become common place and a catalyst for growth, progress and prosperity.