Growth in financial inclusion: Bawumia’s vision has become reality – Dr Bannor

Listen to this articleAI narrationPlayback position0:002:191010Playback speed1×A Development Economist, Dr Frank Bannor has attributed the growth in financial inclusion to the work of former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He stressed the importance of the Ghana Card in achieving this milestone.

His comments come at a time when the current Deputy Minister for Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, announced that Ghana had recorded significant progress in financial inclusion, with more than eight in 10 adults owning a financial account, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025.

Nyarko Ampem said this at the joint inauguration of the development process for the strategy, at the Ministry of Finance in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health, and other key stakeholders.

He noted that the figures underscored the need to move beyond account ownership towards ensuring that financial services provide practical benefits to citizens.

“We have become good at opening accounts. We must now become better at making accounts improve lives,” he stated.

Commenting on this development, Dr Frank Bannor said in a statement that the real question is; "How did we achieve this monumental feat? The answer is Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia!"

He said that when Dr. Bawumia, now flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), explained in December 2017 that it was possible for every Ghanaian to own a bank account, the "naysayers, NDC" mocked him.

"Of course they didn’t understand the concept!

Dr Bannor recounted an explanation given by Dr Bawumia that, with the triangular feature which mobile money payments interoperability allows- that is, the transfer of funds from mobile money accounts to bank accounts and vice versa, as well as from mobile or bank accounts to biometric payment card accounts (ezwich)- it means that anyone with a mobile account has a bank account.

"They can make payments out of it and receive interest on their balances. Today, Bawumia’s vision is a lived life! Ghana needs visionary leadership!"