The country is set to start piloting an electronic currency fully backed by the cedi in September. First deputy governor of the central bank, Maxwell Opoku-Afari, has said that Covid-19 has accelerated the shift to a cash-lite economy and that the project will stimulate the growth of digital financial services. No date for the launch of the digital currency has yet been given.
China became the world’s first country to introduce a sovereign digital currency in April 2020. Ghana joins African countries including Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa in exploring its feasibility. But central bank creation of digital currencies is not risk-free.