Developing Stories

Elly Ohene-Adu, Head of Financial Inclusion at the Bank of Ghana, discusses regulations in Ghana for branchless banking. Ohene-Adu explains the approach the central bank has taken to regulating the market, and the challenges to scaling up since the central bank introduced branchless banking regulations in 2008. Ohene-Adu discusses lessons from Kenya and Pakistan on regulating branchless banking effectively, and the need for the central bank to engage closely with the market as it develops. The mobile operators are interested in introducing new mobile money products to the market, says Ohene-Adu, and with new regulation to allow MNOs to set up finance companies “the sky is the limit”, she says. But what’s really needed to spark competition for branchless banking Ghana is “one successful story, one bank that runs with a vision,” so that “other banks will sit up and follow suit.”
Camera Peter Cairns
Producer Jeanette Thomas