The Bank of Ghana’s eCedi pilot has achieved a major milestone, recording a transaction value of GH?473 million, with over 96,000 transactions during the testing phase.

This was contained in the Bank of Ghana’s eCedi report released on October 22, 2024.

The transactions involved both principal users, such as Financial Service Providers (FSPs), and their customers.

The field tests were carried out in Accra (online test), Tarkwa (online test) and Sefwi Asafo (offline test).While most transactions were conducted online, offline transactions also played a notable role. Offline transactions accounted for 0.004% of the total transaction value and 0.475% of the volume.

A total of 2,750 persons participated in the online pilot and carried out various types of transactions including peer-to-peer, person-to-business, business-to-person, and bill and merchant payments.

On the other hand, a total of 173 participants took part in the offline pilot at Sefwi Asafo, in the Western-North region. The area was selected among other areas within the region on account of its relatively limited telecommunication network availability.

The key objective was to test whether the eCedi offline solution could support consecutive payments without access to the network or internet, thus providing opportunities for persons living in off-grid communities to access digital forms of payments and improve their livelihoods.

Cash and mobile money were noted to be the two (2) most preferred payment methods in the peri-urban and rural areas (Tarkwa and Sefwi Asafo). In the case of the rural area (Sefwi Asafo), cash was significantly dominant. This could be attributed to the limited access to telecommunications infrastructure, which supports efficient delivery of mobile money services. This underscores the importance of offline CBDC in off-grid locations.

This pilot phase aimed to test the feasibility of the eCedi as a digital complement to physical currency, incorporating online and offline use cases to address the needs of urban, peri-urban, and rural areas.

The report emphasized the pilot’s potential to advance broader objectives, including financial inclusion, more efficient payment systems, and improved access to formal financial services, particularly for those in remote areas.

Given the pilot’s success, the Bank of Ghana is considering the next steps toward a potential full-scale implementation of the eCedi.