About eight in every 10 adults own a financial account in the country, with only 22 per cent of them being financially healthy, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, has said.
‘’This means that although many citizens have access to formal financial services, a significant number are unable to manage their finances effectively, meet their daily needs, withstand unexpected financial shocks and build savings for the future,’’ he said.
Mr Ampem said to fix such disparities, there was the need to move beyond expanding access to financial services to ensuring that individuals and households could use them effectively to achieve financial security, build resilience and improve their livelihoods.
Inaugurating a working committee of the national financial inclusion and development strategy in Accra yesterday, the deputy minister said that financial inclusion should go beyond opening of bank accounts and mobile money wallets to ensure that people had the financial tools to improve their livelihoods and achieve economic security.
The event was attended by the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Máxima; the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr James Klutse Avedzi; the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Matilda Asante-Asiedu; the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), Simon Madjie, and other officials.
Committee
The working committee, responsible for the development of the second National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy, is expected to formulate a policy framework to guide the country's financial inclusion agenda over the next five years.
The committee was tasked to identify existing gaps in the financial sector and propose measures to expand access to affordable and responsible financial services, strengthen consumer protection, promote financial literacy and improve the financial resilience of households and businesses.
The strategy is expected to provide a practical roadmap to move the country from increased financial account ownership to meaningful usage of financial services and improved financial well-being.
Participants and guests at the inauguration of a working committee for national financial inclusion and development strategy
It is expected to be launched in the first half of 2027.
Framework
Mr Ampem further said that the government intended to operationalise a financial health framework to measure the ability of households to meet everyday expenses, withstand financial shocks, save and invest for the future.
He said the strategy would also promote digital innovation and responsible financial services while strengthening consumer protection and financial literacy.
A Financial Inclusion Council would also be established to improve coordination and accountability among institutions responsible for advancing the country's financial inclusion agenda.
Assessment
For her part, Queen Máxima said Ghana needed to move beyond measuring financial inclusion through bank account ownership to assessing whether individuals and households were financially healthy.
She also said the country should expand its financial health data collection to capture differences across gender, age groups, rural and urban communities to enable policymakers to develop targeted interventions.
Citing an example from the Netherlands, she said one major bank discovered that about one-fifth of its customers had virtually no savings, prompting it to introduce products that automatically set aside a portion of customers' income towards savings.
Queen Máxima further called for stronger collaboration among financial regulators, government institutions and private sector players to promote digital payments, improve data sharing and develop affordable insurance and pension products, particularly for informal sector workers.
