Ghana’s central bank aims to introduce cryptocurrency regulation by the end of the year, with the West African country submitting the bill to parliament just a week after Kenya passed its own industry regulation bill.
Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor Johnson Asiamah told an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington on Thursday that the country has done “a lot of work over the past four months to prepare the regulatory environment and enact legislation.”
“This bill is currently before Parliament and will hopefully allow us to regulate cryptocurrencies in Ghana by the end of December,” he said.
Earlier this month, Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill was passed by the country’s parliament on October 7, establishing licensing, consumer protection, and frameworks for exchanges, brokers, wallet operators, and token issuers.
Cryptography is just the first step
Previously, the BoG had set a September deadline for regulating cryptocurrencies. The bank also issued draft guidelines in August 2024, seeking additional public input.
Asiama said the law is just the first part of the process, as “the ability to monitor” the flow of cryptocurrencies is “key.”
“So we are developing expertise and training people. We are organizing new departments to help us. This is an important area. We can no longer ignore it and we are working very hard to be able to regulate it.”
The BoG initially took a cautious stance towards cryptocurrencies, warning citizens that cryptocurrencies were not legal tender and advising them to use central bank-backed funds.
Demand for virtual currency in Ghana is growing
Even if regulations are not in place, online data and statistics platform Demansage estimates that more than 3 million people, or about 8.9% of Ghana’s 34 million population, use some form of cryptocurrency.
Asiama said increased usage meant “we can’t go on like this” and we needed to start regulating the industry: “What we have to do as policymakers is try to put some control in place to prevent abuse of the system.”
As part of BoG’s ongoing efforts, we also operate a digital sandbox environment that allows a select number of companies to experiment with cryptocurrencies.
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If virtual currencies are not regulated, there is a risk of being left behind.
Isaac Simpson, senior head of financial advisory and equity capital markets at Stanbic Bank Ghana, said in July that “the digital train has left the station” and that Ghana needs to move forward with regulation or risk being left behind.
“Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda are already miles ahead, piloting CBDCs, launching regulated crypto exchanges, issuing digital asset licenses and attracting global crypto capital. Ghana has a choice: lead or be disrupted,” he said.
“Inaction is policy, and now our inaction is harming us, including lost tax revenue, exposure to illicit capital flows, stifling innovation, and an unregulated, youth-driven digital economy outside of state control.”
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