It has been revealed by the government of Ghana that PayPal will soon be available to people there opening up a whole new market to online sellers and shoppers. Ghana’s population is approximately 28 million and has been a fully functioning African democracy independent from the UK for more than 50 years.
According to reports and information presented by Paypal, by the second half of 2019 Ghanaian merchants should be able to receive payments for their goods sold online. And by the first half of 2020, Ghanaian consumers should be able to make payments for goods and services purchased online via Paypal.
This move reflects the Ghanaian government’s continuing efforts to build a new and modern economy and become an economic powerhouse in West Africa. The biggest problem in the country for businesses and consumers there lies with the fact that 60% of people in Ghana don’t have access to banking services. That’s not unusual in the region but mobile penetration is strong and offers opportunities.
One benefit of the development is expected to be a significant reduction in the difficulties associated with traditional banking such as the practicalities of opening bank accounts. Bank accounts are expensive relative to the typical customers’ income levels. Other problems relate to the need for basic literacy, and associated problems related to administration and record keeping abilities and the typical need to run a bank account in English.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of Ghana, who announced the change at a technology conference in Accra, said significant amounts of money and savings are held outside the banking system meaning that citizens often have no access to payment instruments other than cash for transactions because most alternative methods were bank-based. That obviously means serious limitations when it comes to people in the country trading internationally and online.
Africa is a continent of just shy of one billion people. It’s a tantalising future market that has previously been largely untapped by ecommerce.
