... As WAIFEM Opens Regional Course on Regulating Payment Systems in a Digital Era
The Director of the Payment Systems Department at the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Clarence Blay, has underscored the critical role of payment systems in Ghana's financial services transformation, noting that payment infrastructure has moved from being an appendage of monetary policy to the very centre of financial service delivery.
Speaking at the opening of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) Regional Course on Regulating Payment Systems and Financial Market Infrastructure in a Digital Era in Accra, Mr. Blay said the course comes at a time when the payment landscape has changed significantly.
The five-day course, being held from October 12-16, 2026, in Accra, has brought together participants from central banks across the West African sub-region.
"Members of the press, good afternoon. It is my pleasure to join you today as you commence this very important course that is going to change you and also change the way you go about your work in your central bank," Mr. Blay said.
Welcoming participants, especially those who travelled from across the region, Mr. Blay said Ghana's renowned hospitality would ensure they enjoy the best of the country's warmth.
He noted that advances in communication and information infrastructure have ushered in embedded finance, stablecoins and virtual assets, all developments that demand the attention of central bankers.
"I must say that this event is taking place at a time that the payment system has changed significantly. A lot has happened and continues to happen on account of advances in communication and information infrastructure. We are dealing with embedded finance, stable coins, we are also dealing with virtual assets," he stated.
He commended WAIFEM for continuously scanning the environment to identify knowledge gaps and building the capacity of member central banks to address emerging challenges.
Mr. Blay recalled that some years back, the payment system was considered an appendage to monetary policy and did not require a central place. Today, he said, Ghanaians receive and transfer money digitally via mobile phones, with expanded financial access through mobile money infrastructure.
"Now, with this infrastructure permeating every aspect of human endeavour, including e-commerce, it has thrust the payment system to the centre of financial service delivery," he said, describing payment infrastructure as the rails and plumbing on which monetary impulses are transmitted.
He challenged participants to ensure that the infrastructure is safe, secure and frictionless, and intelligent enough to manage risks and contagion.
"How then do we make the payment system more intelligent to be able to understand the risk and try to manage the risk? That means that we need to have a strong and robust regulatory regime in place... We also need to build capacity to do that," Mr. Blay emphasized.
On confidence and patronage, he said users must be assured that the systems they use are properly protected. He cited the establishment of the Financial Service Industry Command Centre in Ghana, where cyber risk information is gathered and shared among providers, a system that did not exist 10 years ago.
"The silver lining is that the same technology that is enabling cyber criminals to attack our infrastructure is the same technology that is also giving us the tools and the power to regulate the space in the form of AI, machine learning and all sorts of solutions," he noted.
Mr. Blay said while Real-Time Gross Settlement Systems (RTGS) remain systemically important, retail instant payments are seeing strong appetite for immediacy, with high aggregate volumes.
"What does it mean? Life-changing fund transfers are going through these systems. People's medical bills, people's school fees are going through these systems, and this is critical to people," he said. "You have a responsibility to protect these systems to engender confidence."
Touching on cross-border payments and regional integration, Mr. Blay said Africa must create opportunities for intra-African trade, which requires efficient, low-cost payment systems.
"We have to improve the fortunes of Africa, enhance the welfare of our people. When you trade, you have to make payment. So you need a payment system that has less friction, that is more efficient, that does not cost an arm and a leg to execute a transaction," he said.
He urged central banks to be catalysts and facilitators of innovation with an eye on financial stability, noting the complex ecosystem of platform-as-a-service, software-as-a-service, and data centre operators, some of which are outside central bank regulation.
He urged participants to take the course seriously, ask relevant questions, and leverage the social network WAIFEM has created to continue knowledge sharing beyond the classroom.
"I wish you fruitful sessions and fruitful deliberations," he concluded.
WAIFEM: Regulatory Frontier Widening Faster Than Supervisory Capacity
For his part, the Director of the Financial Sector and Payment Systems Department at WAIFEM, Malam Amadou Sawaneh Ceesay, expressed appreciation to the Bank of Ghana for hosting the course, describing Accra as a second home for WAIFEM programmes due to the professionalism and hospitality displayed.
He explained that WAIFEM was established in 1996 by the Central Banks of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone with a mandate to build sustainable capacity in macroeconomic, debt and financial sector management.
"Three decades on and still counting, that mandate remains the same. However, the content has changed over the years due to technological evolution," he said.
Malam Ceesay noted that when the Institute began in 1996, a payment systems course would have focused on cheque clearing and cash logistics, but today members supervise RTGS systems, automated clearing houses, central securities depositories, national switches, mobile money platforms with tens of millions of accounts, and an expanding population of payment service providers.
He said two developments made the course prominent in WAIFEM's 2026 work programme: first, the regulatory frontier has widened faster than supervisory capacity, and second, payment system integration is now among the most practical routes to regional financial integration.
"Our members tell us consistently and candidly that the constraint they face is not the absence of mandate, but the shortage of officials equipped to exercise it across a technically demanding and rapidly moving field," he observed.
Outlining the programme, he said the course will begin with foundations – the role of central banks in payment, clearing and settlement, the structure of financial market infrastructure and international standards, before moving to RTGS, liquidity and collateral management, and country experience sharing on RTGS implementation across West Africa.
He urged participants to attend fully, participate actively by sharing country experiences from Freetown, Banjul, Monrovia, Abuja and Accra, and to translate knowledge into impact upon return.
"The value of your certificate is measured by the amount of change you affect when you return to your respective offices, and not by sitting in the class for five days," he charged.
He encouraged frank and critical evaluation of the programme to help improve future courses and thanked the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, resource persons and WAIFEM colleagues for their support.
