African Nation Ghana Prepares for the Offline Use of Its CBDC E-Cedi

The west African nation of Ghana has been pulling all gears to push further the use of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) e-Cedi. As per the latest development, the central bank of Ghana aims to bring e-Cedi use to offline transactions.

Meaning, that digital currency can facilitate transactions even without the need for power and connectivity. Kwame Oppong, who heads fintech and innovation at Ghana’s financial regulatory body said this on Monday, October 18, speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum. As reported by Bloomberg, he also noted:

“Financial inclusion is limited by the availability of connectivity and power. What we hope to be able to do – and we’re one of the people pioneering this – is that the e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an offline environment through some smart cards.”

As per the World Bank data, nearly half of Ghana’s population has access to the internet. Also, a staggering 84% of the people have access to electricity. Thus, the Bank of Ghana noted that the e-Cedi would be working offline via the use of smart cards.

China Working on A Similar Path

China, the leader in CBDC developments happening worldwide has also been working on a similar project for its Digital Yuan. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is also planning to implement a smart card-based solution for its Digital Yuan.

Here, users will be able to transfer the CBDC directly from their bank accounts to an offline card. However, payments giant Visa warned earlier this year that offline transactions for CBDCs are not a feasible option. Such an offline CBDC payments system can lead to counterfeiting and double-spending.

Over the last few months, the bank of Ghana has been aggressively working on getting its CBDC to the market. Similar developments have been seen in another African nation, Nigeria.