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 Ghanaian delegation updates Singapore’s Senior Minister on GIFE

 Ghanaian delegation led by the Chief Execu­tive Officer of the De­velopment Bank Ghana (DBG), Mr K. Duker, paid a courtesy call on the Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore, MrThar­man Shanmugaratnam, during the Singapore Fintech Festival 22.

The other members of the delegation are the Managing Di­rectors of GCB Bank (GCB), Mr Kofi Adomakoh, and Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG), Mr Daniel Wilson Addo

A statement issued by DBG in Accra yesterday said the team updated the Senior Minister on work being done with the Mon­etary Authority of Singapore on the Ghana Integrated Financial Ecosystem (GIFE).

The statement said they informed the Senior Minister that a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Bank of Ghana (BoG) and DBG at the Fintech Festival 22 to devel­op the Ghana Integrated Financial Ecosystem (GIFE).

The GIFE project aims to enhance financial capabilities and access for micro, small and medi­um enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana and generate greater opportunities for trade and financial services cooperation between Singapore and Ghana.

Over time, it is envisaged that the integrated financial ecosystem model can serve the Asia-Africa SME trade corridor more broadly.

GIFE will offer an open dig­ital infrastructure for MSMEs in Ghana and Singapore in four key areas namely, The SME Financial Empowerment Programme that will help Micro, Small and Medium En­terprises (MSMEs) build founda­tional digital financial literacy skills and gain a good understanding of cross-border financial services.

It said MSMEs in Ghana and Singapore could expand their in­ternational business connections in Asia and Africa, through a network of business-to-business e-com­merce platforms.

“DBG and partner financial in­stitutions will provide digital trade finance and guarantees for eligible MSMEs through a digital platform. MAS, BoG, DBG and financial institutions will jointly develop fi­nancial trust frameworks² to assess credit worthiness for financing by enabling financial institutions to use alternative data sets, such as the track record of successful payments to suppliers and tax payments to relevant authorities,” it said.

In his remarks, Mr K Duker, Chief Executive Officer, DBG, spoke about his bank’s position on the partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank of Ghana, indicating that it marked a pivotal moment in DBG’s mission to provide sustainable finance solutions to Ghanaian businesses and facili­tate multi-generational, sustain­able economic growth. He also expressed his sincerest gratitude to the Senior Minister for his con­tinuous support in promoting the healthy bilateral relations between Ghana and Singapore.

The Senior Minister, Mr. Tharman Sharmugantan, on his part affirmed his country’s commitment to support Ghana especially at this time of econom­ic difficulty.

He explained that there were challenges globally and expressed the hope that Ghana would suc­cessfully overcome the challenges it faces.

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