According to a local media outlet report, Pulse, Ghana’s Central Bank has revealed that it is closing on conducting a pilot at its digital currency (CBDC) central bank. The West African nation is exploring the potential for future issuance of a CBDC.
The Bank of Ghana has disclosed, according to the report, that it is basically conducting a test on its central bank cryptocurrency. According to the deputy governor of the central bank, Maxwell Opoku-Afari, Ghana ‘s move to digital payment solutions has recently raised the demand for a cryptocurrency in the central bank.
Central Bank of Ghana to establish a fintech regulatory sandbox
In addition, the local media outlet also points out that regulators in the African country are setting up a digital fintech sandbox to encourage innovators in the digital payments sector. The authorities will use the fintech sandbox to experiment with the concept of digital settlements, with CBDC as a priority.
Initially, the Central Bank of Ghana announced its plan to issue a CBDC back in 2019, with the Bank’s Governor noting that it will be tested under sandbox conditions. In addition, the governor stated that the digital currency issued by the state would greatly facilitate the growth of the mobile payment space in Ghana.
Interest in developing CBDC’s on the rise
In fact, China became the first major country to develop and issue a digital currency to the central bank. The Asian nation is accelerating its development of a state-issued crypto-asset called Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) for post-COVID-19 stimulus. The digital yuan has been under development for more than five years and is now very close to being made available to the general public.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is set to issue the CBDC to the public later this year. The digital asset is currently being tested in four different cities in China. Nevertheless, a number of economists and cryptocurrency leaders have argued that the digital yuan would threaten the status of the US dollar as the global reserve currency.
