BoG to spur economic growth with strong policy support – Elsie Awadzi

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Addo Awadzi, has assured that the Bank will provide the needed guidelines and policies to spur economic growth, especially as the country finds ways of recovering from the on-going pandemic and the war between Russia and the Ukraine.

Speaking at the second edition of The Money Summit (TMS) organised by the Business and Financial Times, the deputy governor said the two on-going events have significantly impacted African economies; hence the need to think outside the box – which includes deepening intra-African trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Mrs. Awadzi emphasised the need for governments across the continent to see prevailing global challenges as a wake-up call to come up with indigenous policies tailored to the needs of Africa.

“It is a wake-up call for our continent. It is also an opportunity for us to wake up and understand how the world has changed and how we can reposition our continent to take advantage of the opportunities. It is time for the continent to think outside the box, build on our strengths and address our vulnerabilities so that we can emerge from the pandemic stronger than before.

“This will take the concerted effort of all stakeholders, national and regional, private and public sectors, the young and old to change the Africa economic story for good. The Bank of Ghana will continue providing strong policy support efforts to spur both domestic and regional economic growth recovery efforts and the drive toward building a more economically resilient Africa,” she said.

To this effect, she said, the newly introduced Pan-African Payment Settlement Systems (PAPSS) – which provides a perfect solution to challenges with exchange rate in cross-border trade – is a major step to uncovering the potential of intra-Africa trade.

“The AfCFTA presents, for the first time, a single Africa market for good and services that transcend the limit of each of the continent’s 54 nations. Concrete steps need to be taken to expand production, delivery and payment channels to promote regional trade and growth, and also the export market beyond Africa.

“We also need investment in human capital and technology going forward…. Technology can serve as an efficiency input in the development of PAPSS and in respect of our economy, by virtue of efforts to formalise and indeed digitise economic activity away from the informal sector into the more formal sector; so that we can track, harness the African regional market as well as be able to make revenue.

“The PAPSS is therefore a major step to help optimise our regional trade opportunities and our investment opportunities. As a member of the governing council of PAPSS, the Bank of Ghana has offered maximum support to the PAPSS testing and pilot phases. The BoG also continues to promote a modern, innovative, resilient and inclusive payment system in Ghana to help boost commerce and access to financial services which intend supporting Ghanaian MSMEs to plug into the AfCFTA market and beyond,” she said.