Ghana to offer licenses to crypto platforms

Ghana is planning to license crypto platforms in an attempt to capture revenue from the growing web3 and provide regulatory clarity for digital assets. How much impact will it make?

Summary

• The central bank is finalizing a legal framework that would regulate digital asset firms.
• Many companies and economic actors in Ghana have already started using cryptocurrency for everyday transactions.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Governor of the Bank of Ghana Johnson Asiama said that the central bank is already in the process of finalizing a regulatory framework that will be sent through to parliament by September this year.

According to Asiama, the proposed law is meant to provide more regulatory clarity, enough to enable the nation to leverage digital assets, boost its cross-border trade, collect financial data as well as kick-start its strategic investment in the field of web3.

“We are actually late in the game, it has implications for the local currency,” said Asiama, referring to the large amount of the Ghana population who have already begun utilizing cryptocurrency to make transactions.

According to data from Bloomberg, the nation’s fiat currency cedi has gone up by 48% in the past year. This makes the cedi one of the best performing currencies, as it was able to recover from a 25% drop just a year prior.

Asiama stated that many of the companies and economic movers in Ghana have already started using cryptocurrency to carry out transactions and make payments. However, just how many are using crypto remains unclear because there is no regulatory framework that captures this data.

“We are actually late in the game… it has implications for the local currency,” said Asiama, referring to the large amount of the Ghana population who have already begun utilizing cryptocurrency to make transactions.

Data from the Web3 African Group showed that crypto transactions recorded in Ghana throughout July 2023 to June 2024 amounted to $3 billion. Though this number is by no means small, it still pales in comparison to other African nations such as Nigeria, which saw $59 billion in transaction volume during the same period.

Ghana catching up to South Africa with crypto licensing

So far, the first and currently only African country that has a formal licensing process for crypto firms is South Africa. Meanwhile, other nations in Africa are still taking steps to explore and implement digital asset-related regulations.

According to a press release from the FSCA, as of December 2024, South Africa has licensed 248 Crypto Asset Service Providers under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, with an additional 56 applications still under review.