Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the minister for communication and digitization, has suggested that stakeholders in the financial technology (Fintech) sector create a standard electronic payment card for Africa that will facilitate payments and eliminate the use of foreign payment cards like Visa, Mastercard, etc.

She argues that given that African Fintechs have demonstrated their capacity to produce these breakthroughs, Africans should not be required to pay service fees to these multinational corporations.

According to norvanreports.com, she questioned, "Why can't we design our own local and continental cards, cut the fees for our people, and also keep all of that money within the continent to fuel our growth."

“We have done it with mobile money, and I believe we can do it with e-payment and credit cards,” she said.

The Minister made the call when she delivered a keynote address at the Ghana Canadian Diaspora Investment Summit in Toronto, Canada, organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) under the theme, “Grow in Ghana, grow with Ghana”.

Ursula urged Africans to start exploring the digital world by pointing out that blockchain currencies may become quite ubiquitous in a few years, similar to how social media and the internet weren't as widely used a few years ago.

In a similar vein, she added, "cryptocurrencies, which are currently illegal, may very well become the norm many years from now."