Bawumia: MoMo Interoperability Better Than Single Currency for Africa
Written by GliveRadio Accra on July 5, 2024
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is advocating for a policy shift away from the adoption of a single currency among African countries. Instead, he proposes embracing interconnected payment platforms, including interoperable Mobile Money services, as a more effective solution to bridging the financial divide and enhancing intra-Africa trade.
African leaders have traditionally prioritized macroeconomic stability as a crucial factor in pursuing a common currency across the continent.Nevertheless, Dr. Bawumia argues that Africa’s challenges in meeting the economic convergence criteria necessary for implementing a unified currency to stimulate cross-border trade underscore the necessity of leveraging financial interoperability systems to achieve a seamless payment regime.
“Enabling mobile money interoperability allows citizens across the continent to trade seamlessly, which is where I believe African countries should prioritize their efforts. One of the primary challenges hindering the adoption of a common currency has been our countries’ struggles to achieve macroeconomic convergence.”
“The concept of a common currency, proposed in 1963, has been eclipsed by the digital payment era. Today, mobile money can serve as a de facto common currency. By ensuring interoperability, we can reap the benefits without the necessity of a unified currency.”
Dr. Bawumia expressed these views as the keynote speaker at the opening of the Continental Mobile Interoperability Symposium organized by the Africa Prosperity Network in Accra.
The symposium was themed ‘Scaling Up Interoperability: Using Mobile Money for Trade.’
“If we are committed, we can pursue mobile money interoperability on a continental scale. Therefore, we should shift our focus from macroeconomic convergence criteria to digital payment convergence criteria,” added Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, acknowledged the importance of a harmonized regulatory framework and partnerships among digital industry stakeholders to achieve widespread financial sector inclusion and intra-African trade.