Ghana urged to regulate burgeoning digital asset sector

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Ghana’s government must implement a digital asset regulatory framework to better protect investors as adoption skyrockets in the West African nation, experts say.

Local financial, tech, and law industry leaders congregated at a recent fintech summit, where digital assets and blockchain were among the main items on the agenda. One speaker after another called on President John Mahama’s administration to follow up on its commitment to digital asset regulations, a process it kicked off last year.

“We have adopted a wait-and-see attitude since the emergence of and continuing market dominance of digital assets, and I think it’s time for government and regulators to provide clarity on their classifications for appropriate market response and leverage,” stated Richard Nunekpeku, the managing partner at Sustineri Attorneys PRUC, an Accra-based law firm.

Ghana is one of Africa’s leading digital asset markets, ranking ninth globally for adoption in a Finder survey, which found that 17% of Ghanaians had invested in digital assets.

However, the country has lagged behind in regulations, with its neighbor Nigeria stepping up its policies in 2024 to purge unlicensed offshore exchanges. In August last year, the Ghanaian central bank did, however, publish new draft guidelines for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), which included a licensing mandate.

Nunekpeku says that the regulatory journey must start with defining digital assets, which would inform other policies. This definition has been a headache for regulators in Africa and beyond; in some countries, certain tokens like BTC have been exempted from securities categorization, while others have lumped all tokens together.

“The role of government in driving innovations must be to create an enabling environment through responsive and forward-looking legislations and regulations that balance the leverage of innovations, advance financial sector goals and protect end users of financial services,” the attorney said.

Other experts who took to the stage reiterated the need for regulations, which would include a licensing regime, implementation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) policies, and public awareness and education campaigns.

“Regulation isn’t about banning cryptocurrency; it’s about creating safeguards. Clear policy direction would build trust and bring global investors into Ghana’s digital economy,” stated Ama Osei, a local financial analyst.

Despite the lack of regulations, Ghana is among the pioneers in blockchain adoption in the public service in Africa. In 2024, the country set out to adopt blockchain to reduce corruption.

“We are going to adopt blockchain technology to ensure that all data and transactions in the government space are transparent and tamper-proof,” the then-vice president, Mohammed Bawumia, revealed in a Commonwealth conference on curbing corruption. 

Watch: Tech redefines how things are done—Africa is here for it