By Naa Dzagbley Ago
Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Matilda Asante-Asiedu, has said Africa’s ability to attract long-term investment into its digital economy will depend largely on the continent’s capacity to build trusted, harmonised and interoperable financial systems.
Speaking at the final day of the 3i Africa Summit 2026 in Accra, Mrs. Asante-Asiedu stressed that although digital innovation and data-driven solutions are transforming Africa’s financial sector, investors are ultimately drawn to markets where systems are reliable, regulations are predictable and trust is firmly established.
“Capital is what it is — capital. It flows where systems work, where payment rules are reliable, where regulatory frameworks are clear and where trust exists,” she stated.
According to her, attracting investment into Africa’s digital economy requires more than policy ambition and innovation rhetoric. She said countries must develop strong foundational systems capable of supporting innovation at scale.
Madam Asante-Asiedu identified trusted payment systems, robust digital public infrastructure, secure digital identity frameworks, strong consumer protection regimes and coordinated regulatory systems as critical components needed to drive digital transformation and cross-border expansion.
“Without the right architecture, innovation cannot translate into investment or inclusion,” she noted.
She further explained that the biggest challenge for policymakers is bridging the gap between policy design and the creation of practical systems that support everyday financial transactions for ordinary citizens.
“The distance between policy design and a functioning system is where we either succeed or fail,” she said, warning that failure to close that gap could deepen financial exclusion across the continent.
Outlining some major priorities for strengthening Africa’s digital financial ecosystem, Mrs. Asante- Asiedu called on governments to focus on building real digital infrastructure instead of merely developing policy frameworks that do not produce measurable inclusion outcomes.
She also emphasised the need for harmonised and interoperable systems to support seamless cross-border trade and financial transactions across Africa.
“Nothing is more frustrating than starting a transaction and not being able to complete it across systems,” she remarked.
Again, the Second Deputy Governor urged policymakers to keep financial inclusion at the centre of digital transformation efforts.
She cautioned that digitisation that only benefits people already within the financial system amounts to “digitising advantage, not inclusion.”
According to her, the true success of digital transformation should be measured by its impact on market women, small businesses, farmers, rural communities and women-led enterprises.
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