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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has stated that, Africa needs two major things that will be the driving force to bring economic liberation to the continent.

The Vice President who was the special guest for the 3i Summit organized by the bank of Ghana and other Central Banks on the continent stated that, Africa is gradually embracing the influx of technology, which is a necessary tool for fostering industrial revolution.

“In an unprecedented fashion, Africa is fast embracing digital technologies, fostering the platform to adapt to the rapidly changing world in conformity with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

He added that, “Ghana has been on this track in a more deliberate manner during the past seven years, positioning us as the fastest mobile money market and the most financially inclusive economy on the continent.”

The 3i Summit, which is built around Innovation, investment, and Impact in the Fintech ecosystem in Africa, saw massive patronage of some key financial players on the African continent.

The Vice President, posited that, two things are critical for Africa's financial inclusion agenda.

According to Dr. Bawumia, the first need of the African’s financial sector is a digital identity for all citizens and, secondly, a mobile money interoperability which allows banks and mobile money (MoMo) accounts with Telecommunication Companies (Telcos) to move funds freely back to back.

Vice President Bawumia added that, once the two pillars are well established, a favourable platform will be set for an individualized credit scoring system.

“We should move away from the traditional ways of doing credit scoring based on individual bank accounts since that has a limitation, because not everyone has a bank account. However, with MoMo accounts serving virtually as bank accounts, we can capture almost everybody and assign credit scores,” Dr. Bawumia stressed.

“A properly functioning individualized credit scoring system with a working digital identity and address for all citizens will ultimately de-risk the financial ecosystem and bring down the cost of borrowing (interest rates),” he reiterated.