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Ghana will investigate offline capabilities for its forthcoming central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to promote their adoption across all sectors of Ghanian society.
Ghana will Look at Offline Transactions for the Forthcoming CBDC
According to a Bloomberg article from October 18, Kwame Oppong, the Bank of Ghana's (BoG) director of fintech and innovation, stated during the Ghana Economic Forum on Monday that the country's digital currency "e-cedi" will allow offline transactions.
Oppong underlined that offline functionality will enable Ghanaians who do not have consistent access to energy or internet connectivity to embrace the country's CBDC, saying:
“The e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an offline environment through some smart cards.”
What Is A Smart Card?
A smart card is a credit card-sized plastic card containing a chip that allows its owner to transact with a preloaded balance.
Oxfam has tested a similar method to allow payments for environmental disaster aid using the decentralized stablecoin DAI.
According to World Bank data published in 2019, 84 percent of Ghanaians had reliable access to power at the time, whereas just 53% had an internet connection.
The Bank of Ghana will Test CBDC With the German Securities Printing Business (G+D)
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) stated in August that it has collaborated with the German financial company Giescke+Devrient (G+D) to trial a retail CBDC in Ghana.
The statement only comes one month after Ghana’s vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia urged African countries to adopt digital currencies as a method of boosting commerce throughout the continent during the Fifth Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference in July.
Local acceptance of decentralized cryptocurrencies is also increasing, with analytics firm Chainalysis estimating last month that Africa's cryptocurrency industry has increased by more than 1,200% since 2020.