Government to introduce Fintech Innovation Fund – Bawumia

The Government has plans to set up a FinTech Innovation Fund to support Start-ups to drive Ghana’s digital revolution.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia announced this in Accra on Monday during the official press launch of the maiden 3i Africa Summit.

The three-day summit, to be held in Accra, is scheduled for May 13-15, 2024, on the theme: “Unleashing Africa’s FinTech and Digital Economic Potential”.

The event, being organised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), in partnership with Elevandi, a subsidiary of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, would attract governments, businesses, policy-makers, academia, investors and thought leaders.

Participants are expected to discuss and collaborate on unlocking Africa’s full potential on fintech and digital economy, especially innovation.

Vice President Bawumia, who had championed the government’s national digitalisation agenda, over the past seven years, said the path to Ghana’s digital revolution was through fintech, hence, it was imperative to support them financially to thrive.

He, therefore, encouraged all stakeholders in the fintech and digital industry to join forces in improving the legislative and regulatory environment in order to enhance the payments ecosystem and position Ghana on the path of sustained financial inclusion.

The power of technology, Dr Bawumia noted, would improve productivity and connectivity to empower individuals through fintech startups, as well as small and medium-scale businesses to increase innovation, and efficiency in the operations of institutions.

It was against this background, he said, the Government, in the past seven years, had focused on pursuing a digital transformation agenda as part of its economic strategy at the individual and institutional levels.

“The objective is to ensure digital empowerment for a prosperous future in this accelerated digital era, where the use of modern and emerging technologies have become commonplace and a catalyst for growth, progress, and prosperity,” Dr Bawumia stated.

With respect to that, the Vice President mentioned Government’s intention to setup a Fintech and Innovation Fund with the aim of providing the needed investment required for startups and local fintech companies to scale up in order to drive Ghana’s digital revolution.

The Minister of Finance, Honourable Dr. Amin Adam who was also present at the occasion, reiterated the importance of supporting startups and local businesses as they have become key contributors to the Ghanaian economy.

According to him, Government is committed to implementing programmes that generate growth from within with a focus on the growth of small businesses. It is in this regard that the Bank of Ghana in collaboration with the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) launched the MSME Innovative Finance Project, a research study to determine the current and emerging challenges of SME financing in Ghana.

In all these DBG has been a catalyst and glue, by bringing key players like the Bank of Ghana, University of Ghana and a host of other government agencies and commercial banks together and driving the agenda in line with their mandate of supporting SMEs in order to secure a transformation of the economy.

3i Africa Summit is a fintech festival to drive Innovation, Investment and Impact for Africa’s Fintech and Financial Services sectors.

The initiative is jointly developed by the Bank of Ghana, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Development Bank Ghana, and supported by Elevandi to spearhead transformative discussions, address key growth and investment opportunities, and explore how market players in the financial ecosystem are leapfrogging in digital transformation and pioneer the much-needed dialogues and actions to drive Africa’s Fintech growth.