The Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana and Chairperson of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Pearl Nkrumah, has emphasised the critical role of efficient payment systems and enabling platforms in facilitating African trade and investment.
Speaking at the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) last week, Mrs Nkrumah stated that access to financing alone is not enough to expand trade; infrastructure for seamless payments and regulatory support is equally vital.
“For me, most importantly, is how do we enable that platform to make it smooth and fluid for a woman to be able to find partners in other regions and fund their product,” she said.
She noted that Access Bank has created mechanisms that allow funds to move across 14 African countries in multiple currencies.
Mrs Nkrumah pointed to ongoing challenges under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), explaining that cross-border settlements still rely heavily on the US dollar, complicating trade flows.
She added that initiatives like Access Africa allow Ghanaian customers to send funds in Cedis and have them received in local currencies such as Naira, South African Rand, and Zambian Kwacha, though reliance on USD for final settlement remains a constraint.
She also highlighted the potential of a single African currency as a long-term solution to simplify cross-border transactions and accelerate intra-African trade.
“The platform is this, payment is not much of our problem. It’s just the settlement aspect which we need to take very seriously,” she said.
