Commerce and Inclusion: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Central banks are no longer the silent referees in the background of financial systems. They are architects, builders and yes, sometimes, disruptors. What we’re seeing around the world is not incremental modernization. This is a structural reprogramming of how money flows — and who gets to participate. Where, you may ask? Everywhere! Brazil’s Pix, India’s UPI, China’s e-CNY, and beyond.
I witnessed this transformation firsthand in Accra, Ghana during the Cedi@60 Anniversary Currency Conference, where I hosted the Mobile Money to National QR session and discussed, among other topics, the Bank of Ghana’s unified QR code, GhQR. The common thread is that central banks globally are in a unique position to underpin standards as unbiased stewards of trust, standards, and systemic stability. Africa’s nascent digital public infrastructure (DPI) offers an excellent example of this leadership in action.
Africa’s Next Payments Inflection Point
Interoperable platforms such as the Bank of Ghana’s GhQR, the KE-QR Code Standard 2023 by the Central Bank of Kenya, and other instant payment schemes across the continent reflect a shift in the regulator’s role from overseers to infrastructure architects, building systems at scale no single market participant could achieve alone.
Fast payment systems — now present in 70+ jurisdictions worldwide — bring measurable gains in transaction speed, cost effectiveness, and formal access to financial products, particularly for small-to-medium-sized enterprises and marginalized users. By establishing universal standards, mandating interoperability through policy, building safeguards around consumer protection, and driving shared utilities like digital ID, instant settlement rails, and QR switching infrastructure, central banks limit market fragmentation and spur innovation at the edge.
The benefits are twofold: private-sector actors compete on expertise and value-added services rather than proprietary closed loops, while the overall economy gains from lower merchant discount rates, greater transparency, more robust AML oversight, and more resilient monetary transmission. Here, digital public infrastructure is not just a payments upgrade — it functions as foundational macroeconomic infrastructure, strengthening inclusion, competitiveness, and policy effectiveness. It represents a fantastic jump forward, one that will serve countries, regions, and, in the long run, a whole world.
At the Cedi@60 conference, we weren’t just celebrating a historical milestone, we were experiencing a revolution. Beneath the veneer of Africa’s thriving digital finance ecosystem, a more fundamental transformation is occurring in how value is produced, transferred, and governed across the continent.
In one of the more unique and transformative sessions I’ve had the opportunity to facilitate, — From Mobile Money to National QR — we gathered some of Africa’s most thoughtful innovators and policymakers to discuss not just how far the region has come, but what needs to happen next. I was joined by three of the many extraordinary leaders shaping this future: Dr. Settor Kwabla Amediku, Chairman of the Cedi@60 Committee at the Bank of Ghana; Jackie Kitiibwa, Digital Economy Lead at Financial Sector Deepening Uganda; and Jason Masai, Head of Product – Digital at M-PESA. We were also honored to adjust our timing to coincide with the attendance of His Excellency the President of Ghana — a clear indication to the whole world that digital payments policy has moved decisively into the realm of national economic strategy.
Africa’s initial digital finance revolution was based on mobile money. It expanded access, empowered informal markets, and created inroads into the financial system beyond traditional bank branches. What we are witnessing now, however, especially through Ghana’s GhQR platform, is something even more significant: a conscious move from product-level innovation toward interoperable, national-scale infrastructure. QR payments are no longer …
Download your sample issue here!
No part of Central Bank Payments News may be reproduced, copied, republished, or distributed in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without the express and prior written permission of the publisher, Currency Research Malta, Ltd.