The Minister for Communication, Technology, and Innovation, Sam George, has revealed plans to consider a framework that would enable mutual recognition of fintech and payment service licences between Ghana and Zambia to simplify cross-border business operations.
He explained that the present system makes firms already approved under one regulator repeat the whole licensing process when entering the other market, even though they operate under similar standards.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, April 20, which was monitored by Ghanaianradar, Mr George said this creates needless bureaucratic hurdles that delay private sector growth and cross-border innovation.
“The Bank of Zambia fintech policy was modelled and structured with technical expertise from the Bank of Ghana. So, if a company in Zambia, using those benchmarks that have been created, goes through the rigorous process of getting a PSP licence, must that company come to Ghana and start afresh from the beginning again? he questioned.
According to him, the aim is to let firms that have secured licences in either Ghana or Zambia work across both territories without redoing the entire licensing process.
Mr George stressed that the planned alignment would greatly improve ease of doing business, cut administrative delays, and boost fintech cooperation between the two countries.
