MobileMoney boss urges BoG to support cross-border fintech

Chief Commercial Operations Officer of MobileMoney LTD, Abdul Razak Issaka Ali, has urged the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to embrace financial technology (fintech) innovations rather than fear them, particularly in the area of cross-border payment solutions, which he says hold enormous potential to drive inclusion and regional trade.

Mr Ali expressed frustration that Ghana’s efforts over the years to achieve seamless cross-border mobile money interoperability had still not been attained.

According to him, despite years of conversations and pilot projects, the implementation of regulatory frameworks to support such initiatives remains slow and uncertain, leaving private sector innovation trapped in a loop of caution and bureaucracy.

“Government should not be scared to try new innovations within reasonable limits. The sandbox framework already allows for experimentation under supervision, so let’s move a little faster,” he said.

He highlighted that PAPSS is one such commendable innovation that needs to be embraced across markets and in other forms.

Mr Ali noted that while the government had been championing cross-border payment integration, the development of regulations to guide private sector participation had become what he described as a cat-and-mouse journey.

He explained that there appeared to be uncertainty over whether to move forward with cross-border mobile money solutions, largely due to perceived risks around capital flows, exchange rates and potential misuse, which he acknowledged as understandable.

“It’s currently not clear whether the government wants to move on with other cross-border innovations or not. We need a clearer direction. The enabling environment must allow innovation within a controlled space to avoid chaos, not kill innovation entirely,” he bemoaned.

He was speaking at a high-level panel discussion on the theme ‘From Exclusion to Inclusion – DPI and Inclusive Development in Africa’ during a conference organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on “Journalism and Digital Public Infrastructure”.

To ensure the pilot’s safety and integrity, the BoG has set transaction and participation limits, along with a defined testing period.

The sandbox framework also incorporates Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols, alongside consumer protection measures, to mitigate potential risks.

These controls, the Bank says, are essential to understanding how innovative fintech products behave under real-world conditions before they are rolled out on a national or regional scale.

However, Mr Ali believes that the existence of such safeguards should give regulators more confidence to accelerate progress rather than slow it down.

“The sandbox was designed precisely to let us test, learn and grow safely. We cannot keep staying in test mode forever,” he stated.

Mr Ali appealed to the BoG to provide a clear regulatory direction for cross-border mobile money transactions, especially for those already piloted under the sandbox.

He stressed that uncertainty discourages private sector investment and innovation in an area where Ghana has the potential to lead the sub-region.

“If we get this right, Ghana can become a fintech hub connecting West Africa through digital payments.

“But that requires bold decisions from the central bank and the government, which I believe will happen in due time, hopefully much sooner than later,” Mr Ali asserted.

He added that cross-border mobile money is no longer a futuristic concept, citing examples in East Africa where regulatory innovation has enabled platforms such as M-Pesa to facilitate real-time regional transactions across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

For Mr Ali and other advocates, the success of pilots like BrijX and PAPSS could mark the beginning of a new era in regional financial integration, one that connects traders, remittance senders and digital consumers across borders in real time.

But for that to happen, he insists, the BoG must lead confidently, not cautiously, something he believes will happen in due time considering the several policy directions being rolled out by the regulator.