Originally specialized in currency and securities printing,
Giesecke+Devrient has been increasingly working with central banks like
the Bank of Thailand in piloting CBDCs.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is making another step towards the
development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by partnering with
a German currency technology provider.
The BoG officially announced
Wednesday that it signed an agreement with German banknote and
securities printing company Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to pilot a retail
CBDC in Ghana, West Africa.
As part of the agreement, G+D will
provide its proprietary CBDC solution known as Filia to pilot the
issuance of a digital form of Ghana’s national currency, the cedi. The
digital currency will be tested in a trial with local banks, merchants,
payment service providers and consumers, as well as other related
parties.
The project is part of Ghana’s digitization strategy, the
“Digital Ghana Agenda,” aimed at digitizing data and government
services for the country of 30 million people. Also known as e-cedi, the
digital cedi aims to complement the country’s traditional national
currency as a digital alternative. According to the announcement, the
CBDC should facilitate payments without a bank account, contract or
smartphone.
BoG governor Ernest Addison said that the e-cedi
provides a great opportunity to create a “robust, inclusive, competitive
and sustainable financial sector, led by the central bank.” “From all
indications, the concept has a significant role to play in the future of
financial service delivery globally. This project is a significant step
towards positioning Ghana to take full advantage of this emerging
concept,” he added.
Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia
recently said that the African governments need to embrace digital
currencies to facilitate trade throughout the continent. The official
argued in late July that trade between African countries demands a “single central payment” system.
Related: Ghana gearing for central bank digital currency pilot
Originally
specializing in high-quality currency and securities printing, G+D has
become deeply focused on digital payments and CBDC technology in recent
years. As of August last year, G+D was already negotiating using its Filia technology with six global central banks like the Bank of Thailand to create CBDCs.
Apart
from working on CBDC technology, G+D has been also actively investing
in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, last year leading
a $17 million Series A funding round for Metaco, a Swiss startup
providing custody services for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-ghana-to-pilot-cbdc-with-german-securities-printing-firm-g-d
