Ghana’s central bank aims to have crypto regulations in place by the end of the year, with the West African country advancing a bill to parliament just a week after Kenya passed its own bill regulating the industry.
Johnson Asiama, the governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), said at the International Monetary Fund’s meetings in Washington on Thursday that the country had “done a lot of work in the past four months to put together the regulatory environment,” and create legislation.
“That bill is on its way to parliament, hopefully before the end of December, we should be able to regulate cryptocurrencies in Ghana,” he said.
Earlier this month, Kenya’s virtual asset service providers (VASP) bill passed through the country’s parliament on Oct. 7, establishing licensing, consumer protections, and a framework for exchanges, brokers, wallet operators and token issuers.
Crypto laws are only the first step
Previously, BoG set a deadline of September for crypto regulations. The bank also issued draft guidelines in August 2024, while seeking additional public feedback.
Asiama said the laws are only the first part of the process, because “the ability to monitor,” crypto flows “will be key.”
“Therefore, we are developing the expertise, we are developing the manpower. We are putting together a new department that will help us. It is an important area. We can no longer ignore it, and we’re trying very hard to be able to regulate that.”
The BoG initially adopted a cautious stance toward cryptocurrencies, warning the public that they were not legal tender and advising people to use money backed by the central bank.
Ghana’s crypto demand is growing
Even without regulations in place, the online data and statistics platform Demandsage estimates that over 3 million people in Ghana, representing roughly 8.9% of the country’s 34 million population, use crypto in some form.
Asiama said the growing usage meant they “could not leave it,” and had to step up to regulate the industry, and “as policy makers, what we have to do is to try to have some control so as to prevent abuse of the system.”
As part of the BoG’s ongoing efforts, it’s also running a digital sandbox environment, allowing a select number of companies to experiment with cryptocurrency.
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Regulate crypto or risk falling behind
Isaac Simpson, the senior head of financial advisory and equity capital markets at Stanbic Bank Ghana, said in July that the “digital train has left the station,” and Ghana needs to move forward with regulations or risk being left behind.
“Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda are already miles ahead —piloting CBDCs, launching regulated crypto exchanges, issuing digital asset licenses, and attracting global crypto capital. Ghana has a choice: lead or be disrupted,” he said.
“Inaction is a policy. And currently, our inaction is costing us, loss of tax revenue, exposure to illicit capital flows, stifled innovation and an unregulated youth-led digital economy outside state control.”
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