Ghana is working to develop offline capabilities for its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) in an attempt to promote its use in all segments of Ghanaian society.
According to an October 18 report Bloomberg's Kwame Oppong, head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), revealed that the country's digital currency "e-cedi" will support offline transactions during the Ghana Economic Forum on Monday.
Oppong emphasized that the offline functionality will allow Ghanaians who lack reliable access to electricity and internet connectivity to adopt the country's CBDC, stating:
"The e-cedi could also be used in an offline environment via some smart cards."
A smart card is a plastic card the size of a credit card with a chip that allows the user to carry out transactions using a preloaded balance. A similar system has been tested by Oxfam to facilitate payments using the decentralized stablecoin DAI to provide relief in the event of an environmental disaster.
According to the World Bank data published during 2019, 84% of Ghanaians had stable access to electricity, while only 53% were connected to the internet.
Related: G7 Leaders Issue Central Bank Digital Currency Guidelines
During August, BoG announced that it had partnered with German financial firm Giesecke + Devrient (G + D) to pilot of a retail CBDC in Ghana.
The announcement came just a month after Ghanan Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia advocated for African governments will embrace digital currencies as a means of boosting trade across the continent during the 5th Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference in July.
Local adoption of decentralized cryptocurrencies is also on the rise, with analytics firm Chainalysis reporting that The cryptocurrency market of Africa it has grown more than 1,200% from 2020 to last month.
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