Following a recent bout of internet disruptions that laid bare vulnerabilities in Ghana’s banking sector, Dr. Myles Christian Hagan, Head of e-banking operations at UMB, has urged the development of local fintech solutions to bolster the country’s digital finance infrastructure.

Speaking on the theme “Digital Finance: A Boom or Doom,” Dr. Hagan emphasized the importance of local innovation to address shortcomings in Ghana’s digital transformation efforts. He noted that while progress has been made, Ghana still lags behind more advanced nations, necessitating the urgent adoption of international standards and the cultivation of homegrown fintech companies.

“When it comes to digital transformation, a lot has been done, but when we compare to the advanced countries, we are far behind. We are attempting to benchmark with the world standard as quickly as possible, so we need our innovative minds, locally produced fintech enterprises”.

Financial analyst and Women In Forex President, Gifty Annor Sika, highlighted the recent network disruptions that disrupted financial operations and underscored the crucial need for robust infrastructure to support digital finance in Africa.

Sika emphasized the transformative potential of digital finance but lamented the lack of foundational support, particularly in terms of data infrastructure. She pointed to the recent internet outage as a stark reminder of the risks associated with inadequate digital infrastructure, which impede businesses and economic growth.

“You can see what happened with the internet a week ago, banks, forex traders and lots of businesses that depend on the internet to operate were halted. If we are able to sustain a robust infrastructure for digitalization, we will have more booms than dooms but now, I think we are in the doom, because we do not have the fundamentals to sustain what we are looking for,”

“We have been advocating for the past four, five years and we hear it’s coming on next year, we are doing this, we are doing that I will use this opportunity again to advocate for the need of financial structures. If we have companies coming in to create job opportunities for forex traders, we wouldn’t even have to trade in dollars but in the cedis” Sika added.

The charity ball, organized under the Elevate Ghana Project, aims to raise funds for forex training and support initiatives, including the ‘Pad a Girl Project’ designed to aid girls in rural areas. Sika utilized the platform to advocate for urgent action in bolstering financial structures and fostering local fintech innovation to mitigate risks and unlock the full potential of digital finance in Ghana.

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