About 85% of banking sector players have no or low level of knowledge and awareness of the e-cedi, the 2021 PwC Banking Sector survey has indicated.

“They explained this is largely because of the lack of engagement on the part of BoG for them to understand what exactly the regulator intends to issue, infrastructure requirements etc.”

“Interestingly, BoG is rather of the view that is a pilot exercise and the right engagement with all stakeholders will be done subsequently,” the survey said.

The 2021 Ghana Banking Sector Survey seeks to explore the readiness of the Ghanaian banking sector for the e-cedi, its design and potential impact use, regulatory implications, what the expected benefits and challenges are and the future prospects of this “new” form of the Ghana Cedi.

According to the survey, 95% of the respondents believe the e-cedi will positively impact the banking sector and wider economy by deepening financial inclusion, supporting the country’s digitisation agenda and helping improve monetary policy given the enhanced control of the regulator over money supply in digital currency form.

Infrastructure for e-cedi introduction
Also, 80% of the respondents are not ready with the required infrastructure and or are not sure if their current infrastructure will support the use of the e-Cedi when introduced.

However, 78% of the respondents believe whatever form the e-cedi takes and technology requirements, their infrastructure should be ready within two years.

The 2021 Ghana Banking Survey seeks to explore the readiness of the Ghanaian banking sector for the e-Cedi, its design and potential impact use, regulatory implications, what the expected benefits and challenges are and the future prospects of this “new” form of the Ghana Cedi.

PwC surveyed bank executives – chief executive officers, chief finance officers, chief risk officers, chief operation officers, heads of information technology and heads of strategy – in Ghana through interviews and questionnaires.

These tools were carefully designed to elicit views on the readiness of the banks for the introduction of the e-cedi, its design and potential impact use, regulatory implications, the expected benefits and challenges and the prospects. 20 banks (out of the total of 23) participated in the survey.