Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission has almost doubled the roster of companies allowed to test crypto and tokenization products under its regulatory watch, expanding the Virtual Asset Sandbox from 11 firms in March to 20.
The updated list, published in a public notice dated August 19, adds nine companies that were not part of the original cohort announced in March:
- GFX Brokers
- One Africa Securities
- WeWire Ghana
- Sage Advance Global Services
- Mojo Pay Ghana
- Yellow Card Ghana
- Ghana Commodities Exchange, and two trading-platform entrants
- Mamoru Digital Ghana and
- BSystems.
The notice also renames several original participants — Blu Penguin is now listed as “The Blue Penguin Company Limited,” and Goldbod appears as “Ghana Gold Board.”
A wider net across the value chain
The original March cohort leaned heavily toward tokenization and exchange platforms. The expanded list adds depth in categories the SEC had flagged as priorities: virtual asset brokerage, now covering three firms — Mansu Technologies, Sage Advance, and Mojo Pay — and a commodities-focused exchange license for Ghana Commodities Exchange.
Yellow Card, one of Africa’s most active crypto exchanges with operations across more than 20 countries, is a notable new entrant. Its inclusion gives the sandbox a firm with substantial cross-border volume and existing regulatory relationships elsewhere on the continent, a contrast to several sandbox participants that are earlier-stage or Ghana-specific.
The tokenization category has also broadened beyond Africoin’s gold-backed model. One Africa Securities is piloting tokenized bonds, GFX Brokers is testing tokenized treasury bills, and WeWire Ghana is piloting trade-finance tokenization — pointing toward a more diversified set of use cases than the initial announcement suggested.
Why the sandbox keeps growing
The SEC has been explicit that the sandbox exists to pressure-test its own rulebook. Under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), the commission is still finalizing activity-based licensing categories, and each participant’s pilot data feeds into that process. A larger, more varied cohort gives regulators more data points across brokerage, custody, exchange, and tokenization models before the licensing regime is locked in.
The sandbox’s original 12-month clock, which started in March, includes a six-month checkpoint at which market-ready firms can transition to formal licenses. This expansion lands almost exactly at that six-month mark, suggesting the SEC opted to widen participation rather than begin transitioning the first cohort out — an indication that the licensing framework itself may not yet be finalized.
What the notice leaves out
The public notice does not explain why these nine firms were added now rather than in the original March batch, nor does it clarify whether any of the original 11 participants have already moved toward licensing or exited the sandbox.
It also does not disclose selection criteria, application volume, or how many companies applied but were not admitted — information that would help gauge how competitive, or how permissive, the sandbox process actually is.
The notice reiterates that firms whose products prove market-ready within the sandbox’s first six months may transition to formal licenses, but Tuesday’s document gives no indication of which, if any, participants have reached that stage.
The regional backdrop
Ghana’s expansion stands out against a more cautious approach elsewhere in West Africa. Nigeria’s SEC has paused new admissions to its own crypto sandbox while it builds a separate Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, and President Bola Tinubu has signaled no near-term plans for new crypto frameworks.
Ghana’s decision to grow its pilot rather than pause it positions the country as the more accommodating regulator in the region, at least for now — though the durability of that approach will depend on whether the SEC can convert two rounds of pilot data into a workable licensing regime before the 12-month sandbox period ends in March 2027.
