Ghana is placing financial wellbeing at the heart of its next National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy (NFIDS), covering 2027–2031, as the government seeks to ensure access to financial services leads to greater economic security, improved livelihoods and wealth creation.
The strategy will build on progress in expanding access to formal financial services, while tackling the continuing barriers that prevent individuals, households and businesses from using financial products to improve their financial wellbeing.
Deputy Minister for Finance Thomas Nyarko Ampem announced the approach at the joint inauguration of the strategy’s development process at the Ministry of Finance. The event was attended by Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health, and other key stakeholders.
Ghana has made significant gains in account ownership. More than eight in 10 adults now have a financial account, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025. However, results from the 2021 FinScope Survey found that only 22 percent of adults in Ghana were financially healthy.
Mr Nyarko Ampem said the figures showed that progress could no longer be measured by access alone.
“We have become good at opening accounts. We must now become better at making accounts improve lives,” he stated.
The new strategy will seek to increase access to affordable and responsible financial services, encourage digital innovation, improve consumer protection and raise levels of financial literacy and resilience.
Women, young people, farmers, informal sector workers and small businesses will receive particular attention because they continue to encounter difficulties in obtaining suitable financial products and services.
The government also plans to create a Financial Inclusion Council to improve coordination between institutions and strengthen accountability during implementation.
A Financial Health Framework will be put into operation to measure whether households are able to meet routine financial commitments, cope with unexpected shocks, and save and invest for the future.
Mr Nyarko Ampem said the plans formed part of the government’s wider economic transformation agenda. That programme aims to develop a productive and competitive economy through enterprise development and greater investment opportunities.
He pointed to improvements in Ghana’s macroeconomic performance, saying the economy expanded by 6.2 percent during the first half of 2026. Inflation also fell from 23.8 percent in December 2024 to 5.5 percent in October 2026.
Financial sector reforms will extend beyond traditional banking and mobile money services, with the government seeking to deepen capital markets and widen access to investment opportunities. Emerging technologies, including asset tokenisation, will also form part of that development.
A National Technical Committee made up of the Ministry of Finance, financial sector regulators and other stakeholders is overseeing the strategy’s preparation. Its official launch is expected in the first half of 2027.
Mr Nyarko Ampem urged financial institutions, regulators, fintech companies, insurers, pension providers and development partners to contribute to the process.
“Our ambition is for an economy that creates opportunity, a financial system that enables participation, and a society in which more people can build secure and prosperous lives,” he said.
