Maxwell Opoku-Afari: Launch of the 20th anniversary celebration of IT Consortium Ghana Limited

Goodwill message by Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, at the launch of the 20th anniversary celebration of IT Consortium Ghana Limited, 23 April 2021.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

With a high sense of pride and appreciation, I extend my warm congratulations and best wishes to IT Consortium Ghana Limited on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its foundation. Twenty years in the life of a FinTech in any part of the world is no mean achievement. It becomes even more significant when placed in the context of a developing country, and truly this achievement is monumental for both IT Consortium and Ghana.

A trip down memory lane to 2001, Bank of Ghana had commenced in earnest implementation of interbank payment infrastructures aimed at modernising the banking sector and guided by a strategy that is focused on banks. In an era when the word "FinTech" was alien to the library of finance vocabulary and the thought of technology companies providing financial services would have been considered sacrilegious, IT Consortium was established. 

With unusual appreciation of Bank of Ghana's direction of financial sector development, IT Consortium has competently supported the digital transformation agenda of the Ghanaian financial services industry with digital solutions relevant to our developmental needs. A stellar example is the chango crowdfunding product, the first of its kind by a licensed institution in Ghana, introduced to improve on the traditional "susu" model for raising funds among a group of persons.