EMIs Chamber of Ghana Congratulates Dr. Johnson Asiamah on His Nomination as BoG Governor

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The EMIs Chamber of Ghana, the leading advocacy body for digital financial ecosystem, extends its warmest congratulations to Dr. Johnson Asiamah on his nomination as the next Governor of the Bank of Ghana. His extensive experience in monetary policy, financial stability, and economic research makes him well-positioned to steer Ghana’s financial sector towards greater innovation and inclusion.

As we look forward to Dr. Asiamah’s tenure, the Chamber remains committed to working closely with the Bank of Ghana to further strengthen Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem, ensuring continued innovation, consumer protection, and financial inclusion for all Ghanaians.

As captured in the release announcing his nomination, Dr. Asiamah’s nomination follows the acceptance of a formal request by the current Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, to proceed on leave ahead of his retirement on March 31, 2025.

With over 23 years of experience at the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Asiamah brings a wealth of expertise in monetary policy, financial stability regulation, and economic research. He previously served as Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2016 to 2017 and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Southampton, UK.

We also take this opportunity to commend Dr. Ernest Addison, the outgoing Governor, for his invaluable contributions to the country’s digital financial ecosystem. Under his leadership, the Bank of Ghana championed progressive regulatory frameworks that have significantly advanced financial inclusion and the growth of electronic money institutions.

Congratulations once again to Dr. Johnson Asiamah, and best wishes to Dr. Ernest Addison on his next chapter.

Full release below:

Best in the world: Ghana claims top spot in new GSMA mobile money regulatory ranking

Ghana

Ghana has emerged as the leading country in the world when it comes to countries with regulatory frameworks that enable widespread mobile money adoption.

This was contained in the 2024 Mobile Money Regulatory Index (MMRI) by the GSMA, which is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem. Ghana beat 89 other countries including the likes of Brazil, Mexico, Rwanda, and Qatar to claim the top spot with a leading Index Score of “95.06” points. The other countries that rounded up the top were Rwanda (95 points), Qatar (94.21 points), Malawi (93.88 points)and El Salvador (93.75 points).

(The top 10 countries. Source: GSMA)

The breakdown

The Mobile Money Regulatory Index (MMRI) which has 6 broad dimensions, is further broken down into 40 indicators which are scored according to relevant criteria assessment. While Ghana scored a perfect 100 points in 3 of the 6 dimensions, including “Transparency and Disclosure Requirements”, “Authorisation” and “Consumer Protection”, it recorded a low figure of 83.75 points under the “Policy Enablement” dimension due to its poor performance under the “Taxation (0 points)” indicator.

(Source: GSMA)

Impact of the E-Levy

A further interrogation of the data showed that the presence of discriminatory taxation (mobile-specific taxes) imposed on mobile money services in Ghana impacted the score recorded under the “Taxation (0 points)” indicator. The absence of the E-Levy and any other discriminatory taxes on mobile money would have led to Ghana being awarded 100 points which would have seen the country’s world-leading score of 95.06 points rise further.

The Index

According to the GSMA, the Mobile Money Regulatory Index was first developed in 2018 to provide a non-binary and objective assessment of the extent to which regulatory frameworks enable mobile money services to thrive. Until 2021, the index was comprised of 28 indicators clustered in six dimensions, with each indicator scored based on both qualitative and quantitative scoring metrics.