The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has proposed that mobile money (MoMo) could serve as a common currency for Africa, addressing challenges associated with intra-African trade.
He was speaking on Friday at the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) Interoperability Symposium in Accra.
Addressing trade barriers
Dr. Bawumia highlighted the persistent low levels of intra-African trade, which has averaged 13 percent for intra-African imports and 20 percent for intra-African exports over the past seven years.
While the share of intra-African exports has seen a slight increase from 18.2% in 2013 to 19.6% in 2020, the total value of these exports has declined. He noted that current settlement processes, which often involve foreign exchange, place pressure on African currencies.
Need for efficient payment systems
“Trade payments and relationships are currently hampered by inadequate settlement systems, which result in high costs, limited access, slow processing speeds, and a lack of transparency,” Dr. Bawumia said. He emphasized the importance of developing efficient domestic payment systems, such as real-time gross settlement systems and national switches, while also focusing on cross-border interoperability.