The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has re-emphasised that its digital currency – the eCedi will meet very high security requirements.
As a result, currency issuance and distribution modules of the core eCedi infrastructure will be separated to address cyber risk.
In a document revealing its design document, the Central Bank said the eCedi, which is in pilot phase, will also be scalable to handle large volumes of transactions and provide 24/7 availability and support instant payment.
The eCedi, according to the Bank of Ghana, will be accessible to everyone and any part of the country, adding “absence of mobile data networks in the rural areas of Ghana should not serve as a barrier to the use of the eCedi”.
In other words, the eCedi should work effectively in both online and offline environments.
Similar to cash, an eCedi transaction will be free of charge to consumers.
By this approach, the Central Bank said the eCedi would be a strong contender of cash, promote competition in the payment market and facilitate the provision of innovative value added services to individuals and businesses by banks and payment service providers at affordable fees and charges.
To prevent disruption to the existing payment space, the regulator of the bnking industry said the eCedi will be integrated into the existing interbank payment systems and mobile money interoperability platform operated by the Ghana Interbank Payment a and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS).
The eCedi has also been designed to take to participate in international projects on cross border CBDCs.
Objectives of eCedi
The strategic goals of the eCedi is to increase digitization of the Ghanaian economy, foster financial inclusion and consumer adoption of digital payments and anticipate the future role of BoG as an active regulator and facilitator of a digital economy.
The rest are to foster the possibility of a more secure, efficient, and resilient payment system; • Address the risk of unregulated privately issued digital “currencies” or virtual assets.
