Ghana must look beyond short-term economic recovery and prioritise the development of long-term financial systems to sustain growth and strengthen economic resilience, the Queen of Netherlands, Queen Máxima, has said.
Queen Máxima, who is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health, explained that recent fiscal and banking sector reforms had positioned the country to address longer-term development needs, particularly in pension schemes, insurance and long-term savings.
She said expanding access to such financial services would help households prepare for retirement, withstand unexpected financial shocks and mobilise domestic resources for productive investments.
Addressing participants at a roundtable meeting on financial health at the Bank Square in Accra yesterday, Queen Máxima further urged the government and financial institutions to adopt a more deliberate approach to developing financial products that addressed long-term needs of individuals, businesses and the wider economy.
Event
The roundtable meeting brought together senior executives of banks, electronic money issuers, payment service providers, insurance companies, pension providers, regulatory institutions and development partners who discussed ways to strengthen financial health in the country.
It formed part of Queen Máxima’s visit to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) yesterday, during where she held a bilateral meeting with the Governor of BoG, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama.
The meeting provided a platform for stakeholders to review Ghana’s progress in financial inclusion and digital finance, as well as identify policy and regulatory priorities for improving the financial health of households, workers and small businesses.
Discussions also focused on how financial health could be measured and strengthened through innovation in savings, responsible lending, insurance, pension schemes and investment opportunities.
The participants also examined the role of employers and the workplace in promoting employees’ financial well-being, as well as the need for collective action across the financial sector to expand access to sustainable financial services.
Financial health
Queen Máxima stated that financial inclusion should not be measured solely by the number of people who had access to bank accounts and other financial services, but by the extent to which those services improved their financial well-being.
She mentioned key pillars of financial health as the ability to manage day-to-day finances, withstand unexpected financial shocks, achieve long-term financial goals and building confidence in managing household finances.
She said financial institutions must, therefore, develop products that supported regular savings, emergency funds, insurance coverage, retirement planning and access to investment opportunities.
Queen Máxima further said that Ghana had considerable room to expand its insurance and pension markets, adding that insurance penetration remained relatively low at about three per cent of GDP.
She also urged banks and other financial institutions to move away from offering financial products in isolation and adopt a more coordinated approach that placed customers' long-term financial needs at the centre of product development.
Dr Asiama said the next phase of the country’s financial sector development must focus on translating increased access to financial services into improved financial health for households and businesses.
He said leveraging technology, data and innovation to address barriers to credit would help close the financing gap and ensure that viable businesses accessed funding on fair and sustainable terms.
