ACCRA, Ghana, January 30, 2024—Today, the Africa Merchant Online Enrollment Roadshow cohosted by the U.S. Embassy's Commercial Section, Brij Technologies Inc. (Brij) with Digital Credit Management Ltd. (DCM), saw the enrollment of the first Ghanaian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) on a cross-border payment platform developed by two U.S. startups, in what is a historic opening for intra-Africa trade. For the first time, customers can now make direct, real-time payments in their own currencies to Ghanaian vendors from anywhere in the world, without the prohibitive cost of FOREX transfers.
The standing-room only program held at the Labadi Beach Hotel included vendors and merchant aggregators, as well as representatives from the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, the Ghana Enterprises Agency, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the American Chamber of Commerce Ghana, the Private Enterprise Federation, and Stanford Seed.
The first phase of the project will provide SMEs access to an online marketplace, for goods and services, which includes a suite of business management tools, including invoicing and payment tracking, allowing them to send bills and receive payments directly into their chosen bank and MoMo accounts. The second phase will provide e-commerce tools to enable the listing of catalogs of goods and services online.
The enabling engine is Brij's pan-African Paybills.Africa platform, which aims to bring millions of African vendors to a central online marketplace, organized by sector, for simplified and cost-effective access for global payers. The payment solution can also be integrated directly into existing digital marketing and online businesses, allowing customers to submit payments supported by Paybills.Africa directly through vendors' websites or through the platform in the case of vendors who do not have websites. With the new enrollments, Ghana joins 21 other countries for which the absorption of direct inbound vendor payments is supported by Paybills.Africa.
In his opening remarks, Dean Matlack of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service noted, "with its leading role in the creation of a unified African market and robust mobile money environment, Ghana has rightly earned its reputation as a digital hub. However, the missing link between MoMo usage and regional trade integration is the enabling mechanism for cross-border payments, and we saw immediately the potential for Brij and DCM's technology to fill this gap in Ghana and wider Africa."
"The lack of interoperability between mobile money providers remains the greatest obstacle to Africa's growth." said Mr. Ehi Binitie, Director of Brij. "When customers around the world can make direct payments in their own currencies to Ghana's vendors, these vendors will finally have access to the tools they need to take their place in the global digital marketplace."
"This project will transform the ambitions of AfCFTA and PAPSS to accelerate intra-African trade through cross-border e-commerce into a reality. As the primary payment processor for Paybills. Africa in Ghana, we look forward to working closely with partners, SMEs, and regulators to create a solution that works for customers and businesses alike." commented Mr. Pierre Liautaud, Director of DCM.
Mr. Kwame Oppong, the Head of Fintech and Innovation for the Bank of Ghana congratulated the organizers, emphasizing the importance of such a dialogue across government and industry. He emphasized the policy of the Bank of Ghana, "to create a culture of innovation through a clear regulatory framework that will drive investment across Ghana's digital financial sector."
Mr. Oppong also previewed the upcoming 3i Africa Summit to be held in Accra Ghana from 13 to 15 May, which aims to promote positive enabling and regulatory environments and catalyze investment into Africa's digital economy and said the conversation would continue there.
The success of the Brij-DCM project is built upon the online enrollment of Ghanaian vendors onto the online marketplace. Brij and DCM invite all Ghanaian businesses to register as billers under the platform, linked here.
For further inquiries, please contact Terence Raft: terence.raft@brij.africa
