Ghana and Zambia are stepping up technology and fintech collaboration, with officials from both countries signaling a shift toward intra-African investment and regulatory alignment to unlock cross-border business.
Speaking in an interview on Citi FM, Zambia’s Technology and Science Minister Felix Mutati and Ghana’s Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George outlined plans to deepen cooperation following recent exchanges of startup delegations.
Mutati said Zambia has brought about 16 fintech firms and innovators to Ghana for a week-long visit aimed at identifying partnerships and scaling opportunities. The visit follows an earlier Ghanaian delegation that traveled to Zambia with an investment portfolio of about $60 million.
Focus on Platforms, Digital Identity
Zambia is seeking to learn from Ghana’s progress in fintech infrastructure, particularly digital identity systems and payment platforms, as it looks to transition from standalone systems to integrated platforms.
“For us, it’s to be able to deal with some of our own priorities… in particular, FinTech. Payment platforms. Because they are mostly systems. We want to move a lot more from systems into platforms,” Mutati said.
He cited digital identification as a key enabler, alongside broader infrastructure such as fiber networks, adding that Zambia aims to “plug in” to Ghana’s fintech ecosystem once foundational systems are strengthened.
Ghana Seeks Rural Finance Lessons
Ghana, in turn, is looking to adapt elements of Zambia’s rural financial systems, particularly localized models that channel funds to farmers and informal economies.
George said insights from Zambia could help improve Ghana’s social intervention programs and reduce inefficiencies in disbursement.
“If we can adopt these technological platforms that they use to do their local village financial inclusion into our system, it makes our system even better and more robust,” he said.
He added that both countries face similar structural challenges, arguing that solutions developed within Africa are better suited than imported models.
“African problems need to be solved in an African nuance,” George said.
Push for Regulatory Alignment
A central focus of the engagement is regulatory harmonization, particularly around fintech licensing. Officials are exploring “passporting” frameworks that would allow companies licensed in one country to operate in the other without restarting approval processes.
“Can Ghana recognize the licenses issued by the Central Bank of Zambia? And can Zambia recognize the licenses issued by the Central Bank of Ghana so that it makes it easy for our businesses?” George asked.
Such alignment could reduce compliance costs and accelerate expansion for startups operating across borders.
Toward Direct African Payments
The discussions also include plans to ease cross-border payments between Ghana and Zambia without routing transactions through intermediary banks in Europe or the U.S., a system that often increases costs.
George said enabling direct remittance flows would support trade and make financial transactions more efficient within Africa.
The engagement reflects a broader shift in development strategy, with both officials encouraging collaboration within the continent over traditional partnerships with Europe.
Mutati pointed to Zambia’s use of local startups and artificial intelligence to address challenges such as mineral discovery and malaria, arguing that such solutions are rooted in African realities. “These are lessons that are built with local knowledge, local technology,” he said.
Gateway Strategy
Zambia also views Ghana as a strategic entry point into West Africa, while positioning itself as a hub within Southern Africa, as startups from both countries seek regional expansion.
Mutati said the goal of the visit is to generate tangible business outcomes for participating firms. “They shouldn’t come here to tour and see… but much more crucial is that they build their enterprises to be bigger than when they came,” he said.
The collaboration underscores growing momentum for Africa-led innovation ecosystems, as governments look to align policy, infrastructure and investment to scale technology-driven growth across borders.
