The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has held a regional stakeholder engagement forum in Techiman as part of efforts to strengthen public trust in the financial system and improve financial literacy.

The forum, held at the Jemima Grace Hotel on Monday, October 12, 2026, was organised under the theme, “Strengthening Stakeholder Relations Through Dialogue and Engagement”.

It forms part of the Bank’s 16-region outreach programme aimed at explaining the central bank’s mandate, building public confidence in the financial system and creating channels for direct feedback from the public.

The engagement brought together 150 participants from across the Bono East Region, including traditional and religious leaders, market queens, trader associations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), representatives of rural and community banks, microfinance institutions, security agencies and the media.

The Bank’s delegation was led by its Director of Communications, Bernard Otabil, alongside Victor Akakpo, Head of the Regional Branch Coordinating Office, and Abdulai Lawal Abubakar, Regional Director for Sunyani, who oversees the Bono East Region.

Technical presentations were delivered by experts from the Banking Supervision Department (BSD), Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department (OFISD), Financial Stability Department (FSD) and Currency Management Department (CMD).

‘The Cedi is trust’ – BoG Communications Director

In his opening remarks, Otabil said public trust was essential to effective central banking and monetary policy.

“The Cedi is not just paper. It is trust. It is a social contract between the Bank of Ghana and every Ghanaian. We can formulate the best monetary policy, but if the trader in the Techiman market, arguably one of the largest open markets in West Africa, does not understand or trust it, we have failed. That is why we are here, not to lecture, but to listen, to dialogue, and to partner for financial stability,” he said.

He added that the Bank was adopting a more people-centred approach, using public feedback to inform its responses to issues such as unlicensed financial schemes, currency abuse and misinformation.

Participants were taken through five key areas: the role and mandate of the Bank of Ghana, reforms in the microfinance sector, responsible borrowing and consumer protection, currency education, and the causes, implications and prevention of dud cheques.

The currency education session included a practical demonstration of the “FEEL, LOOK, TILT” method for identifying genuine Ghana cedi banknotes, detecting counterfeit notes and handling currency properly.

The discussions on responsible borrowing and consumer protection focused on borrowers’ rights, loan disclosure requirements and the need to avoid excessive debt.

Stakeholders raise concerns over lending rates and credit access

During an open forum, participants welcomed the Bank’s decision to engage stakeholders directly but raised concerns about access to affordable credit for SMEs and farmers.

They also questioned why lending rates remained high despite declining inflation and expressed concern about the activities of unregulated lenders and illegal foreign exchange operators.

Participants further called for sustained public education on the security features of the new Heritage Series banknotes.

Bank officials responded to the concerns and assured participants that the issues raised would be escalated to management for consideration.

Otabil reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to maintaining dialogue with stakeholders across all 16 regions to promote financial inclusion, improve financial literacy and strengthen the resilience of the financial system.

He urged the public to report suspected unlicensed financial institutions, counterfeit currency and financial fraud to the Bank or the relevant law enforcement agencies.

The forum ended with a call for continued collaboration between the Bank of Ghana and regional stakeholders to protect the value of the cedi and safeguard the stability of Ghana’s financial system.