Ghana Fintech Association is to be formed to regulate the activities of fintech companies the country. Ghana has without doubt, showcased itself as an ecosystem to be reckoned with when it comes to fintech innovations in Africa. The evidence is becoming obvious as we now have for instance, Zeepay Ghana Limited, a locally recognised fintech company promoted by Ghanaians, gradually positioning itself as one of the fintech giants in Africa. As is true in other countries, Ghana’s FinTech ecosystem is a complex and dynamic environment with interdependencies between various actors. Regulators such as the Bank of Ghana provide policy and regulatory direction for the financial sector. Traditional financial institutions such as commercial banks offer financial services through digital and physical branches. They are also the custodians of electronic funds transacted on FinTech innovations.
There is limited research about how new financial technology entrants and incumbents work together to shape financial inclusion. In our paper we try and bridge that gap. The big take-aways are that the development of FinTech services for financial inclusion requires pulling together capabilities between independent yet complementary competitors from three different traditional sectors. These are: information technology (for FinTech firms), telecommunication infrastructure and reach (for telcos) and banking (for banks). It is evident that Ghana’s FinTech ecosystem practices are so far successful at reducing financial exclusion. But more can be done in terms of financial infrastructure expansion, literacy, elimination of transaction charges and developing solutions specifically for unbanked people.