Lack of trust in Africa’s financial systems hurting economic growth – Prof. Bokpin

Professor Godfred Bokpin, a Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, has raised concerns over Africa’s long-standing failure to build confidence in its financial systems.

He claimed that many wealthy Africans continue to shy away from keeping their funds within the continent’s formal banking sector.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, 9th July, during a discussion on the Bank of Ghana’s recent intervention in the foreign exchange market, Prof Bokpin noted that this persistent lack of trust has led to significant economic losses and limited domestic capital stability.

“The truth of the matter is that in Africa, we have not built enough confidence in our own system, where the upper middle class and wealthy Africans find comfort in keeping their money within the formal financial system for purposes of circulation. We don’t have that”

Prof Bokpin said he has observed that this trend has, over the years, created room for illicit financial flows and fuelled corruption, particularly within political circles.

“Our political financing, do they write a check? I haven’t seen one. I am an academic, even for research purposes. Look, I don’t think any serious politician in Ghana keeps all their money in a certain bank or in the banking system; they will probably hide it in real estate. That is why our property industry is driven by fraud, whether we like it or not. Whether you like it or not, you see how they advertise real estate prices, they are not targeting mere mortals like you and I, they know who they are targeting,” he said.

He called for structural reforms and greater transparency within the financial sector, urging policymakers to prioritise financial trust-building measures as a pathway to sustainable economic growth across Africa.

“So these are the things that we should be looking at, how do we put the right measures in place that ensure that there is a sustainability.”

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