Business News of Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Source: thebftonline.com

Conducive environment will propel fintech’s contribution to remittances

Ghana Investment and Opportunities Summit Ghana Investment and Opportunities Summit

The financial technology (fintech) sector’s contribution to Ghana’s increased remittances and economic growth will thrive in a conducive environment, Mr. Darryl Abraham Mawutor, Growth Director in charge of Africa for Taptap Send, has said.

Mr. Mawutor has therefore called on government not to renege on its pledge to continue creating an enabling environment for businesses and investors to push their money and other resources into the country.

His call comes at the backdrop of the just-ended Ghana Investment and Opportunity Summit (GHIOS) in London, an investment prospect that he said Taptap Send firmly supports.

The summit was under the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority’s (GIPC) auspices, in conjunction with the Ghana High Commission in London, on the theme ‘Ghana’s economic recovery post-pandemic; opportunities and possibilities’.

At the summit, Taptap Send was commended by the Vice President for their commitment in driving digital growth in remittances into Ghana.

Dr. Bawumia told investors that government is implementing strategic measures to resuscitate the economy, while creating the right environment for more business partnerships with the international community.

Commenting on the Vice President’s remarks, Mr. Mawutor said: “It’s great to hear the Vice President promise that government will continue investing in strategic ventures that will help drive more opportunities into Ghana.

“For fintechs like Taptap Send, we believe in Ghana and want to do more business and grow with Ghana; but it would be great if government commits to making it easier for fintechs, including those who are yet to come into the country to do business,” he added.

He indicated that if businesses and investors – including those in the fintech sector – found it easier to do business in terms of regulatory support and other incentives, Ghana would attract more investment from the diaspora.

“The only way to attract more investment is to make doing business in Ghana easier. There’s a scale for this, and Rwanda has done it so well. Ghana could do more on this level,” the Taptap Send Growth Director said.

On their part, he said, the company will intensify its public outreach on financial literacy while improving customer experience across the world by addressing challenges people face in transferring money to Ghana.

Such efforts, he said ares aimed at increasing the confidence of customers and helping increase remittances into Ghana, which stood at US$4.7billion in 2022 and are projected to reach US$5bn by the end of 2023.

“We’re helping people to send money instantly and securely at a fractional cost, by deepening our connections in Ghana and positioning our operations to attract more remittances to support economic growth through making money transfer seamless and safe,” he said.

Taptap Send operates in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, and supports payments into African countries including Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Zambia, and also Asia.

The venture-backed company has investors: Reid Hoffman – an American Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of LinkedIn; the Omidyar Network, a social change investment firm; and Helois, a private investment firm.