Ghana’s central bank is taking the development of its digital currency a step further by inviting Financial Technology (FinTech) companies and developers to innovate solutions and various uses of the proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a release said Tuesday.
Bank of Ghana made the invitation through the launch of the eCedi hackathon in partnership with EMTECH Solutions Inc, giving opportunities for FinTechs, developers, and innovators to put forth their products for incorporation into the proposed electronic currency.
Dubbed the “eCedi Hackathon”, the event is an innovations challenge set to run for 12 weeks, during which innovators will brainstorm to come up with solutions to address financial inclusion challenges in Ghana.
“The event provides a platform for developers, innovators, and blockchain enthusiasts to showcase their creativity by exploring the many possibilities of CBDC technology and contribute to the future of Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem,” said the release.
It added, “The event will culminate in a conference during which solutions judged to be impressive will be recognized in an awards ceremony.”
The hackathon is part of the eCedi research project and presents an opportunity for the Bank to explore emerging technologies, foster creativity and contribute to the advancement of eCedi development.
Among other things, the project seeks to encourage local developers to showcase their creativity by collaborating with peers to generate innovative solutions towards solving financial inclusion problems based on the eCedi and facilitate CBDC knowledge sharing among the central bank, commercial banks, and payment service providers.
It also aims to provide an opportunity for networking and collaboration with other organizations and software developers working in the CBDC domain.
Some of the solutions expected from the FinTech’s and developers include the use of the eCedi in merchant transactions, government payments, agriculture, trading, inbound remittances, preventing the use of eCedi in illegal transactions, and making the ecedi interoperable.