Making a case on the need to scale up continental coordination to achieve a single market capable of unlocking African economies, he said while national initiatives such as digital public infrastructure frameworks, regulatory sandboxes (a controlled and isolated environment where software, code or other resources can be tested without affecting the main system or other applications), and innovation hubs were yielding results for economies, those were not enough.

“No single institution, no matter how well resourced, can drive this transformation alone,” he said at this year’s 3i Africa policy forum in Accra yesterday.

He added that strategies such as harmonising regulatory frameworks, fostering interoperability across financial infrastructures and building trust and transparency across jurisdictions were crucial to realising a single market vision for the continent.

That approach, Dr Asiama added, would help build trust and transparency among countries, enabling smoother transactions and investment flows that reflect the shared vision of a thriving and interconnected African market.

Jointly organised by the BoG and the Development Bank of Ghana, in collaboration with the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), the 3i Africa forum was to foster financial technology (fintech) growth and promote transformative dialogues across the continent.

Participants included leaders in policy, regulation, finance and technology, who are shaping the continent’s digital transformation.

The forum was held on the theme: “One Africa, one market: Driving innovation, investment, and impact for a connected future”.

Key among the issues discussed include how Africa can attract and sustain investment in fintech and digital finance through regulatory innovation, market stability and strategic partnerships; how regulatory alignment and interoperable infrastructure can foster seamless, secure cross-border finance, enabling African small and medium enterprises (SMEs’) participation in regional trade through fintech, policy tools and financing models, among other pertinent topics. 

Dr Asiama said the BoG was committed to driving the continent’s digital financial integration.

In line with that, he said the central bank’s work with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), coupled with its bilateral fintech passporting collaboration with the National Bank of Rwanda, reflected the BoG’s conviction that regional integration was achievable through trust-based partnerships.

In addition to that, he announced that the BoG was also collaborating with the National Bank of Rwanda and the Global Financial Technology Network (Singapore) on the Next-Gen Digital Payment Infrastructure Project (DPI).

The initiative, he said, was aimed at modernising Africa’s cross-border payments ecosystem through a central bank-led, innovation-enabled approach, co-developed with fintechs and financial institutions.

He described the forum as a turning point where vision met action, where policy enabled innovation, and where Africa stepped confidently into its role as a digital financial powerhouse.

“As we begin today’s dialogue, I urge us to be ambitious, pragmatic and united in purpose. Let us focus not only on what is possible, but on what is essential and commit to building a connected African financial ecosystem by 2030,” Dr Asiama stated. 

The African Department’s Deputy Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Vitaliy Kramarenko, who outlined the current economic context in Africa, pointed out that while last year saw growth of four per cent and improvements in public debt management, the outlook for 2025 was less optimistic.

He added that factors such as low external demand and subdued commodity prices threatened to decelerate growth.

As a result, Mr Kramarenko called on countries to harness internal resources and drive structural transformation.

He further stressed the crucial role of the private sector, urging policymakers to foster an environment conducive to private investment.

“Countries will need to increasingly rely on their internal sources of development, including through further progress in fiscal reforms and, more importantly, structural transformation, promoting a growing role of private sector investment,” he stated.

“Indeed, the private sector could and should do much more heavy lifting than it's doing right now,” Mr Kramarenko added.

However, he said, policymakers needed to focus on the development of supported infrastructure, digital finance, innovation and regional trade facilitation, among other priorities.