Ghana Shifts Financial Inclusion Agenda from Access to Financial Health with 2027–2031 Strategy

Ghana has launched the development of its second National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy, moving its policy focus from simply expanding access to financial services toward improving the financial health and resilience of citizens.

The Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health, inaugurated a National Technical Working Committee on Thursday, November 5, 2026, to spearhead the strategy covering 2027–2031. The strategy is being developed under the theme "Shaping Ghana's Next Frontier in Financial Inclusion and Development" .

A Gap Between Access and Well-Being

Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Ampem Nyarko said that while Ghana has made significant progress in expanding account ownership, the numbers reveal a troubling disconnect. According to the World Bank's Global Findex 2025, more than eight in ten Ghanaian adults—approximately 81 percent—now own a financial account. Yet a 2021 Financial Inclusion and Demand-Side Survey found that only 22 percent of adults were financially healthy .

"We have become good at opening accounts. We must now become better at making accounts improve lives," Nyarko said . He illustrated the gap with practical examples: a market woman may receive payments digitally but still lack affordable credit to expand her business; a farmer may own a mobile money account but have no insurance against a failed harvest .

The Deputy Minister linked the new strategy to Ghana's broader macroeconomic recovery, citing economic growth of 6.2 percent in the first half of 2026 and a decline in inflation from 23.8 percent in December 2024 to 5.5 percent in October 2026. "In effect, we have restored stability and laid the foundation. Now we are ready to take off towards shared prosperity," he said .

Targeting the Vulnerable and Informal Sector

The new strategy will prioritise responsible financial services, digital innovation, consumer protection, financial literacy and resilience, with particular attention to women, young people, farmers, informal sector workers and small businesses . Government plans to establish a Financial Inclusion Council to strengthen coordination among regulators and stakeholders, alongside a financial health framework to measure whether households can meet everyday expenses, withstand shocks, and save for the future .

Nyarko said the government is targeting the launch of the strategy in the first half of 2027 .

Queen Máxima: "Financial Inclusion Is a Means to an End"

Queen Máxima, who concluded a four-day visit to Ghana on November 5, used the occasion to challenge the conventional metrics of success. "Financial inclusion is a means to an end, not an end in itself. You don't become better by having an account. You're going to become better when you have an insurance that is going to protect you when there's drought," she said .

She identified four components of financial health: managing day-to-day finances, building resilience against shocks, pursuing financial goals, and maintaining confidence in one's financial future . She stressed the importance of emergency savings, affordable insurance and accessible pension schemes, particularly for informal sector workers who constitute roughly 80 percent of Ghana's population .

During her visit, Queen Máxima met with President John Dramani Mahama, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson, Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Pandit Asiama, and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. She also visited farmers in Adeiso, traders at Makola Market, and a hospital in Accra to observe how financial services are—or are not—improving livelihoods on the ground .

At Makola Market, she met Joyce Ketu, a trader rebuilding her business after a fire, whose experience highlighted the importance of savings and insurance for recovery. In Adeiso, pineapple farmer Kweku Atta Apediego described how access to credit and technical advice had helped him expand his farm; his next goal was saving for old age .

A Regional Leader with Room to Grow

Ghana's account ownership rate of 81 percent places it alongside South Africa and behind only Kenya and Mauritius in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to Global Findex data . But the gap between access and financial health underscores a broader challenge facing developing economies: digital accounts alone do not shield households from economic shocks.

Queen Máxima called for a broader measurement framework that captures the experiences of women, older persons, and rural and urban dwellers, and urged financial institutions to assess customers' financial health and design products accordingly—citing savings products that automatically set aside a portion of income as one example . She also called for stronger collaboration among regulators to expand affordable insurance and pension products, and for digital payments and data sharing to improve services .

"My partners and I are going to be accompanying you along the way in order to develop this financial health and make it a reality," she assured .