Ghana’s senior minister for communications Haruna Iddrisu has urged the nation’s banking industry to embrace ICT to a greater level, saying there is a need for players in the financial sector to move towards cashless and branchless banking.
While addressing the 16th edition of Ghana’s National Banking Conference, the minister said it has become expedient for Ghana’s financial institutions to join the fight against corruption and money laundering.
He said Ghana’s banking industry needs to fully embrace the latest advances in ICT in order to improve service delivery, as it would also help the industry to make more profits by rolling out innovative financial products.
While some technologies are easy to apply, he noted that many require the construction of appropriate infrastructures throughout the nation, which according to him may look capital-intensive but in the long run will lead to profit maximisation.
On the part of the government, the minister said the current administration in Ghana has spent more than US$200 million on the construction of various information and communication technology infrastructures throughout various regions of the country.
The acting president of the nation’s Chartered Institute of Bankers, Clifford Duke Mettle, corroborated the minister’s statement, saying switching to electronic banking is central to the operations of players in the nation’s financial industry.
Mettle said the switches made so far have greatly and positively affected the industry. He concluded by canvassing for the strengthening of the industry’s regulatory framework regime.
