They are from Burundi, Demo­cratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, as well as switches such as Rwanda Rswitch, Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited, and Central Africa GIMAC.

The visit forms part of a part­nership between AfricaNenda and GhIPSS to organise a peer-learning visit for selected African countries.

The objective of the learning visit is to enhance the understand­ing and knowledge of central banks and switch operators in the deployment and management of inclusive Instant Payment Solu­tions.
The participants were expect­ed to gain valuable insights into GhIPSS’s scheme rules, business model and use cases.

AfricaNenda is an African-led team of experts committed to unlocking the potential of digital financial services for the financially excluded across the continent by accelerating the scale-up of instant and inclusive payment systems.

The Group settled on GhIPSS for the learning visits because of the strides GhIPSS has made in developing an Instant Payment solution known as the GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP).

GIP has deepened financial inclusion in Ghana and it is con­sidered one of the most advanced on the African continent based on AfricaNenda’s State of Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (SIIPS) in Africa report 2022. As of December 2022, GhIPSS had processed a monthly average of 17.9 million Instant Payment transactions with 55 participating financial institutions.

During the learning visit, central bank representatives participated in technical learning sessions, net­working sessions and field visits.

The Chief Executive of GhIPSS, Archie Hesse, in his remarks, said “GhIPSS is excited about this partnership as it affords us the op­portunity to share the experiences and lessons learnt on our journey to achieving inclusive payments”.

He said he was optimistic the knowledge-sharing experience would provide the needed guidance to the various participating coun­tries as they embark on the

development and deployment of their instant payment solutions.

Mr Hesse said the learning visit, which ended on Friday, would also help the participating countries to establish relevant networks and contacts to foster further sharing of expertise.

The Chief Executive officer (CEO) of AfricaNenda, Dr Robert Ochola, said the peer-learning event would support the growth of Instant and Inclusive Payment Sys­tems in Africa, which the organisa­tion considered critical to achieving universal financial inclusion by 2030.

He stated that, “We believe that Ghana’s experience can offer critical lessons and good practices for regulators and policymakers in other countries, which is aligned with the organisation’s agenda to accelerate knowledge sharing and enhance the capacity of African institutions.”