Ghana is positioning itself at the centre of a new era in global financial markets, central bank Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama said on Thursday, arguing that emerging economies are increasingly driving innovation in payments, digital finance and market infrastructure.

Speaking at the opening of the ACI FMA World Congress 2026 in Accra, Dr Asiama said Ghana’s economic recovery following its debt crisis had created the foundation for broader financial sector reforms and digital market expansion.

“Macroeconomic stability is not only good for financial market development. It is the infrastructure on which financial market development becomes possible,” Asiama told delegates at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel.

Ghana suffered one of its worst economic crises in decades in 2022, when inflation climbed to 54.1% and the government was forced into a debt restructuring programme supported by the International Monetary Fund.

Asiama said inflation had slowed to 3.4% in April this year, while foreign reserves had risen above $13.9 billion, equivalent to more than five months of import cover.

He added that the Bank of Ghana had cut its benchmark policy rate by 1,400 basis points since early 2025 and said the banking sector had resumed lending after recapitalisation efforts.

The governor cautioned that global conditions remained uncertain due to geopolitical tensions and external shocks, but said the stabilisation programme had restored the foundation needed for financial market growth.

“The decisions taken at the Bank of Ghana and at the Ministry of Finance over the period that followed were not comfortable decisions. They were the correct ones,” he said.

Asiama said the structure of global finance was changing as emerging economies developed their own financial technologies and regulatory frameworks rather than relying solely on systems designed in Western financial centres.

“The conventional story of financial markets in emerging economies has been one of catch-up,” he said.

“That story is ending.”

He pointed to Ghana’s interoperable payment infrastructure, developed through the Ghana Interbank and Payment Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), which supports instant bank transfers, mobile money integration and QR-code payments.

He also said Ghana’s central bank digital currency project, the e-Cedi, had completed its pilot phase and authorities were now considering its use in cross-border settlement and wholesale payments.

“The strategic question is no longer whether to build digital sovereign infrastructure,” Asiama said.

“The strategic question is what economic activity we choose to enable once we have it.”

The governor also defended stronger regulation of digital finance and virtual assets, saying effective oversight was essential to building trust and scaling innovation sustainably.

Ghana passed its Virtual Asset Service Providers Act in 2025 and is currently implementing regulations governing digital asset operators and fintech firms.

“Markets that lack credible regulatory architecture do not innovate faster,” Asiama said.

“They fragment, they fail, and they erode the trust on which the next wave of innovation depends.”

He said Ghana was strengthening cybersecurity frameworks and supervisory technology while working with regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ghana Stock Exchange to align oversight across banking, capital markets and digital finance.

Asiama also called for greater regional integration of African financial systems, including harmonised payment systems and licence passporting arrangements for fintech companies operating across multiple jurisdictions.

“A payment initiated in Accra should clear in Abidjan or Lagos as easily as it clears in Kumasi,” he said.

The ACI FMA World Congress brings together central bankers, financial institutions and financial market professionals to discuss trends shaping global markets.

Asiama said Ghana was seeking not only to participate in changes transforming financial markets, but also to contribute to shaping them.

“Ghana has chosen to be part of that redesign,” he said.

“Not as a participant. As a contributor.”