India, Ghana Agree For Early Operationalisation Of UPI On Ghana Interbank Payment Systems

New Delhi: India and Ghana are working to link their payment systems – Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) respectively to permit users to make instant, low-cost fund transfers on a reciprocal basis.

The two countries have also delved into discussions regarding the possibilities of a Memorandum of Understanding on Digital transformation Solutions; Local Currency Settlement System and the opportunities offered by African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). (Also Read: Now Limit Replies Only To Verified Users On X To Avoid Spam: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk)

"They agreed to work expeditiously towards the operationalisation of NPCI's (National Payments Corporation of India) UPI on Ghana's GHIPSS within a period of 6 months," the Department of Commerce said on the social media platform X (formerly twitter). India's UPI has already reached countries including Singapore and the UAE. Talks are also on with Nigeria for the same. (Also Read: Vivo Y18 4G Smartphone Launched In India With MediaTek Helio G85 SoC And 5,000mAh Battery; Check Price, Specs)

These issues were discussed during the visit of a seven-member Indian delegation led by Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Amardeep Singh Bhatia to Accra, Ghana on May 2-3. NPCI International has recently announced its partnership with Bank of Namibia to support them in developing a UPI-like real-time payment system in the African nation.

The bilateral trade between India and the West African nation Ghana has increased to $2.87 billion in 2022-23 from $2.6 billion in 2021-22. The trade gap is in the favour of Ghana mainly due to imports of gold by India which accounts for nearly 80 per cent of total imports from Ghana.