The Director of the Payment Systems Department of the Bank of Ghana, Clarence Blay, has called on central banks across the continent to be catalysts for innovation while building robust regulatory regimes to secure Africa's rapidly evolving payment systems.

Speaking at the opening of a course organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) in Accra on Monday, Blay said the payment system industry has undergone significant transformation driven by advances in communication and information infrastructure.

The event was attended by officials of WAIFEM, officials of the Bank of Ghana, resource persons, participants from various central banks and members of the press.

Blay welcomed the participants, especially those who travelled from abroad to Ghana, noting that Ghana's hospitality will make their stay memorable.

He noted that some years back, payment systems were considered an appendage to monetary policy and did not occupy a central place in central banking.

"Fast forward to this time, a lot has changed. You are receiving your payments on your phones, you are transferring money digitally, and you have expanded access to financial services through the mobile money infrastructure," he said.

He explained that digitalisation has moved the payment system to the centre of financial service delivery and has become the rail on which monetary policy impulses are transmitted and the foundation for liquidity in the financial sector.

"This infrastructure is permeating every aspect of human endeavour, including e-commerce. How then are we able to ensure that the infrastructure transmitting monetary policy is safe and secure and has no frictions? That is the responsibility of all of us gathered here," he stressed.

He said the growing importance of payment systems has attracted cybercriminals, making cybersecurity a major concern.

He disclosed that Ghana has addressed this with the establishment of the Financial Service Industry Command Centre where cyber information is gathered and shared among financial service providers.

Blay observed that the same technology enabling cybercriminals is also providing tools including Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the security of the payment system.

He added that retail payment systems have become systemically important due to the high volume and aggregate value of transactions as people's school fees, medical bills and daily expenses now pass through these systems.

"While individual transaction values are low, in aggregate they are high. The utility of these systems is so high that you have a responsibility to protect your systems to maintain confidence," he said.

On cross-border trade, Blay said Africa must improve its payment systems to enhance intra-African trade and create wealth for its people.

"We have to create opportunities for people on the continent to trade among themselves. When you trade, you have to make payments. So you need a payment system that is less expensive, that is more efficient, that does not cost an arm and a leg to execute a transaction," he noted.

He urged central banks to be open to innovation and to act as facilitators of innovation rather than being afraid of new developments such as embedded finance, stable coins and digital assets.

He also highlighted the complexity of the modern payment chain which involves “platform-as-a-service providers, software-as-a-service providers and data centre operators”, some of whom are not directly regulated by central banks.

"How do we ensure that safety standards go through all the entities that are in the ecosystem but some of them are not regulated or supervised by us? Do we wish them away and hope that they will disappear? Or do we be bold, pragmatic and work with them using a pilot to understand what is happening?" he questioned.

Blay commended WAIFEM for continuously scanning the environment to identify knowledge gaps and building the capacity of member central banks.

He urged participants to take the course seriously, ask questions, share ideas and build a network that will continue beyond the training room.

He also said the training fits into the broader agenda of regional integration with the West African bloc being part of the African integration agenda and is being monitored by other regions.

"I wish you fruitful sessions and fruitful deliberations," he concluded.