The Central Bank of Ghana has banned eight Money Transfer Organizations (MTOs) from offering remittance services without regulatory approval. According to a review seen by TechCabal, these companies include LemFiWise, Transfer Go, Xoom from PayPal, SendValu, Boss Revolution, Aza Finance and Supersonicz.
According to the notice seen by TechCabal, the Central Bank warned the public, commercial banks, dedicated electronic money issuers (DEMIs) and enhanced payment service providers (EPSPs) of the need to deal with listed companies.
Article 3.1 of Ghana Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723) prohibits currency trading without a license. According to section 29.1 of the law, operating without a license is punishable by a fine “of not more than seven hundred penalty units or by imprisonment of not more than eighteen months, or both “.
“Licensed MTOs are hereby reminded to cease their foreign exchange flows through their partner institutions only and strictly adhere to all guidelines regarding their operations,” the Central Bank of Ghana advisory said.
For many African countries, remittances are an important source of foreign exchange. According to World Bank dataremittances to sub-Saharan Africa increased by about 5.2% to $53 billion in 2022, up from 16.4% the previous year.
