Bawumia announces plans to introduce E-Cedi to combat corruption

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed the government's intention to accelerate the implementation of the E-cedi, highlighting its potential to address money laundering and various forms of corruption.

The E-Cedi, a digital equivalent of the local currency, was conceptualized by the Bank of Ghana (BOG) in 2021. Despite a successful pilot phase, its launch has been postponed

Read full articledue to what the BOG described as economic dislocation.

Addressing the 14th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa in Accra, Dr. Bawumia underscored the importance of leveraging digital technologies to combat corruption.

He emphasized that the introduction of the E-Cedi, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), would serve as a significant tool in the fight against corruption.

"We are also using digital technology to track money and suspicious activity and we are working very closely with the central bank and they are piloting to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC) which we call the E-Cedi," he said.

"And with the successful piloting of the E-Cedi, which is essentially a digital version of our currency with appropriate privacy protections. With that successful pilot, it will be the ultimate weapon in our fight against corruption.

"The CBDC will be the ultimate weapon because the E-Cedi will make it easy to track the movement of money and identify suspicious activity. It will provide us with high-level transparency, reduce the risk of fraud, and reduce the level of tax avoidance and money laundering," Dr. Bawumia added.