Vice
President,
Dr.
Mahamudu
Bawumia
is
proposing
a
policy
shift
in
the
adoption
of
a
single
currency
among
African
countries.
He
is
rather
suggesting
interconnected
payment
platforms
including
interoperable
Mobile
Money
service
as
a
far
better
alternative
in
bridging
the
financial
divide
and
boosting
intra-Africa
trade.
African
leaders
have
been
focusing
solely
on
macroeconomic
stability
across
the
continent
as
a
key
factor
in
the
use
of
a
common
currency.
However,
Dr
Bawumia
argues
that
Africa’s
inability
to
meet
the
economic
convergence
criteria
for
the
rollout
of
a
homogeneous
currency
to
boost
cross-border
trade
indicates
that
a
seamless
payment
regime
can
only
be
achieved
through
financial
interoperability
systems.
“Making
mobile
money
interoperable
allows
our
citizens
across
the
continent
to
trade
seamlessly
and
so
this
is
where
I
believe
as
African
countries
we
need
to
focus
on.
One
of
the
common
problems
of
achieving
a
common
currency
was
the
difficulty
of
our
respective
countries
in
achieving
the
macro-economic
convergence.”
“The
idea
of
a
common
currency
which
came
in
1963
has
really
been
overtaken
by
the
digital
payment
age
that
today
you
can
think
about
mobile
money
as
a
common
currency.
If
we
make
it
interoperable,
we
don’t
need
to
have
the
common
currency
before
we
get
the
benefits.”
Dr.
Bawumia
made
this
call
as
the
guest
speaker
at
the
opening
of
the
Continental
Mobile
Interoperability
Symposium
organized
by
the
Africa
Prosperity
Network
in
Accra.
It
was
held
under
the
theme,
Scaling-up
interoperability,
Using
Mobile
Money
to
Buy
and
Sell.
“I
believe
that
If
we
are
serious
about
it,
we
can
work
towards
mobile
money
Interoperability
at
the
continental
stage
and,
therefore,
we
should
move
away
in
this
regard
from
the
macro-economic
convergence
criteria
to
digital
payment
convergence
criteria,”
the
Vice
President
added.
Governor
of
the
Bank
of
Ghana,
Dr
Ernest
Addison
on
his
part
acknowledged
that
a
harmonized
regulatory
framework
and
partnerships
among
players
in
the
digital
space
remain
a
pivot
to
achieve
broad
financial
sector
inclusion
and
inter-trade
in
Africa.