This, he said, will help bring financial services to people who don’t have access to banks.

He pointed out that people without bank accounts should be seen as potential customers. By developing strong digital infrastructure, these people can be turned into regular customers.

Speaking at the Ghana Financial Inclusion Conference in Accra from June 26-27, themed “Accelerating Financial Inclusion in a Digital Era,” Alhaji Yakubu-Tali noted that despite Ghana’s progress in financial inclusion, more efforts are needed to enhance it through digital means.

“Just like roads and bridges connect people and markets, digitalisation connects individuals and those without bank access to the financial system, bridging a crucial gap,” he said.

Alhassan Yakubu-Tali, highlighted the relevance of the conference theme, noting that “digital innovation is fundamentally reshaping the financial landscape and creating unprecedented opportunities for sustainable inclusion and growth.”

He praised the progress Ghana has made in bringing many unbanked and underbanked individuals into the formal banking system.

He credited this success to supportive policies and regulations, advancements in digital payment infrastructure, and partnerships between banks and Fintech companies.

Alhaji Yakubu-Tali commended the government and the Ministry of Finance for initiatives like the Digital Financial Services Policy (DFS) and Cash-lite Road Map.

These initiatives have increased financial inclusion, improved the digitalization of financial institutions, and reinforced the government’s commitment to advancing financial inclusion.

He stated that the digital era offers a unique chance for banks and financial institutions to enhance financial inclusion by investing in digital infrastructure and enforcing policies and regulations.

Alhaji Yakubu-Tali mentioned that ADB has been a key player in the national financial inclusion agenda through its digital services, including mobile and internet banking, and contactless payments.

He also said that conferences like the 2024 Ghana Financial Inclusion Conference inspire financial institutions like ADB to use digital platforms to further the financial inclusion agenda.

The 2024 two-day Ghana Financial Inclusion Conference aims to discuss strategies to use technology to improve financial inclusion and to develop policies and regulations to promote financial inclusion.

Banks and other financial institutions are key participants in the conference.

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She emphasized the necessity for financial inclusion to be integrated into the policy, regulations, and business modules of financial service providers, rather than considered a peripheral issue.

Speaking on the second day of the 3i Africa Summit 2024 in Accra, Mrs Awadzi stated that, Africa should develop an enabling environment that promotes long-term inclusion, consequently extending financial access to the underserved and unserved.

She said that empowering the underserved should be a critical economic policy agenda because the concept of financial inclusion would improve people’s livelihoods, alleviate poverty, and advance economic development on the continent.

Over 6,000 attendees from 95 countries are participating in the three-day summit, which seeks to explore and promote active collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups in key areas to drive innovation across Africa.

Mrs Awadzi noted that micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are the bedrock of Africa’s economy, but they continue to lack access to substantial and cost-effective financing without equity and credit.

“It is important that as we think about how innovation can be a catalyst for inclusion. It must also be noted that innovation and investments only do not scale up inclusion, but policy and regulations promote access and transparent pricing for the underserved and unserved,” she said.

She stated that African countries must have clear and coordinated policies where educational, health, agricultural, industrial, and economic initiatives all speak to financial inclusion and work together to create an enabling environment for growth.

Mrs. Awadzi said that infrastructure was another critical component of financial inclusion, and the “key question is who does these investments in inter-IDs, interoperability, payment systems, financial literacy, credit reporting, and credit scoring programs?”.

“We need partnerships between the private and public sector to create these investments to promote access and cost-effective processes. We need to find ways of investing in coordinated databases; databases that speak to each other and allow us to understand what is going on within the ecosystem,” she added.

Mrs. Awadzi mentioned that in Ghana, the Bank of Ghana has issued a set of sustainable banking principles which require banks to operate inclusively and allow everyone in the ecosystem to think similarly about the interests of the unserved and underserved population.

She argued for metrics to assess impact, focusing on accounts, usage, and resilience in how economic actors handle risks.

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According to the Head of Sales for FXKudi, Christain Agbai the partnership will go a long way to improve accessibility and the affordability of financial services in the informal sector.

“We are pleased to have a partnership between FXKudi and the Mobile Money Advocacy Group, Ghana to promote financial inclusion in Ghana. This collaboration aims to leverage the capabilities of FXKudi to facilitate seamless and cost-effective financial services through their agency network.”

He noted, “by joining forces, the aim is to enhance the accessibility and affordability of financial services for individuals across Africa.”

Speaking on the partnership, Vice President for MoMAG, Albert Otu-Siaw said the collaboration has already opened doors to several other benefits for them.

He said the partnership has improved their ability to reach a broader customer base by capitalizing on the customer networks of partners; scaling the agents and increasing their market and commission share within the agency landscape.

FXKudi has been on the digitization drive to make financial services in the informal sector more effective and inclusive.

FXKudi has expanded its agent base to most parts of Ghana and Africa.

The Africa Development Bank, AFDB, report on Financial Inclusion in Africa explains how necessary Financial inclusion is to ensure that economic growth performance is inclusive and sustained.

Financial inclusion refers to all initiatives that make formal financial services available, accessible and affordable to all segments of the population, says AFDB.

As more than 60 percent of financial transactions are made in the informal sector in Africa, there is a need for particular attention to be paid to the informal sector for a more financially inclusive sector.

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