Photo: Patrick van Katwijk / UNSGSA
Eight in ten have an account: Máxima urges Ghana's banks to do more
Queen Máxima met Ghana's central bank and financial sector leaders. Eight in ten adults in Ghana have an account, but only 22 per cent are financially healthy. She is now urging banks to measure how their customers are really doing.
Queen Máxima was at the Bank of Ghana in the capital Accra on Wednesday. There she met leaders from banks, mobile money, insurance and pensions for a roundtable on people's finances. She is in Ghana for the UN, where she works to help people gain better control of their money.
The Queen praised Ghana for bringing banking services to ever more people. But she urged the central bank to start measuring how bank customers' finances are actually doing, so that it can see whether new banking products really help people.
An account is not the same as financial health
Ghana is among the African countries that have come furthest with digital payments. According to the World Bank, 81 per cent of adults have an account, either at a bank or on their phone. Yet a 2021 survey found that only 22 per cent of adults are financially healthy. The rest are just coping or struggling.
According to the central bank, the agenda covered how the country can measure people's financial health, and how banks can offer better savings, credit, insurance, pensions and investment. The role of employers in supporting their staff was also on the agenda.
"A remarkable transformation"
Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama welcomed the Queen. He said a lot has happened over the past decade, but that access to services is still a challenge for many.
"Ghana's financial sector has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade," he said. "Today, Ghana stands among Africa's leading digital finance markets, supported by interoperable payment systems, mobile money, fintech innovation and a regulatory environment that has fostered both growth and trust."
To the Ashanti King
Wednesday's programme also included a meeting with investors and a meeting at the World Bank on saving and pensions, including for informal sector workers. In the afternoon the Queen travelled to Kumasi for a courtesy visit to the Ashanti King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and his wife, Lady Julia Osei Tutu.
Thursday is the last day of the visit. The Queen is due to meet the Finance Minister, the Governor of the central bank and President John Mahama, and take part in an event on the country's strategy for financial inclusion and financial health.