Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has announced that Ghana will work with Rwanda, Zambia and other African nations to pilot a continental digital trade corridor, marking a decisive move toward building a functioning, integrated African digital economy.
Speaking at the 3i Africa Summit 2026 in Accra, themed “Innovation, Investment and Impact in Africa’s Fintech Ecosystem,” the Vice President said the initiative would be implemented, tested and measured, with core focus areas including mobile money interoperability, mutual recognition of digital identity for cross-border Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, and harmonised electronic invoicing systems.
“These dialogues will be implemented, tested and measured,” she said, drawing a clear distinction between policy discussion and real-world execution.
She stressed that the pilot is designed to deliver efficient and scalable solutions for Africa’s growing digital economy, and that Ghana is committed to ensuring regional integration efforts are not only discussed at forums in Accra but implemented across partner countries.
From Ambition to Architecture
The Vice President identified five pillars on which Africa’s digital integration must rest: payments, identity, regulation, infrastructure, and investment. She warned that without interoperable identity systems, millions of Africans would remain excluded from formal economic participation.
She pointed to the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) as a critical instrument for enabling faster, more cost-effective transactions within the continent, and took direct aim at Africa’s ongoing dependence on external financial infrastructure. “The objective is for a Ghanaian enterprise to invoice clients across Africa and receive payment directly, efficiently and at a reasonable cost,” she said.
She cautioned that fragmented regulatory environments and limited data centre capacity remain significant constraints, noting that if Africa’s data is stored and processed elsewhere, the continent participates in the digital economy without genuine control over it.
Ghana at the Centre
The Vice President positioned Ghana’s hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat as a strategic advantage, one that places the country at the heart of the continent’s economic transformation agenda.
She noted that Africa’s youthful population and rapidly growing technology adoption place the continent in a strong position to shape the next phase of global digital growth, particularly in areas such as cross-border trade, agriculture, health, education, and public service delivery.
“For decades, Africa has been described as a frontier,” she said. “What matters now is how we organise ourselves to compete, integrate and build at scale.”
The 3i Africa Summit 2026 runs from May 6 to May 8 in Accra, bringing together fintech innovators, policymakers, regulators, and institutional investors from across the continent.
GNA