There are moments in a nation’s life that pass with little ceremony but carry deep meaning. Today, the Ghana Cedi marks 60 years since it quietly replaced the colonial currency system and took its place as a sovereign symbol in the pockets and purses of Ghanaians. It wasn’t born with a fanfare. But it was born with purpose.
The journey of the cedi is as much about Ghana’s economic experiments and transitions as it is about national identity. Its 60-year evolution mirrors the nation’s post-colonial struggles, reforms, and resilience, threaded with currency swaps, inflation battles, redenominations, and a persistent longing for monetary stability.
From Cowries to Sovereignty
Before the cedi, there was cowrie, “sedie” in the Akan language, from which the currency draws its name. The cowrie shell, once traded across markets and borders, symbolized value long before Ghana’s independence. By the time the British established the West African Currency Board (WACB), Ghana, then the Gold Coast, had adopted pounds, shillings, and pence as legal tender, consistent with colonial influence.
But change was inevitable. Independence in 1957 planted a seed of autonomy that soon extended to the currency system. On July 14, 1958, the newly formed Bank of Ghana issued its first national currency: Ghana pounds, shillings, and pence. It was a modest first step, but a bold one, nonetheless. With that, the WACB’s reign ended, and Ghana took control of its monetary destiny.
Birth of the Cedi: A Shift to Decimalization
The real transformation, however, came in 1965, when Ghana broke fully from the British monetary system and embraced the more practical decimal system. On July 19, 1965, exactly 60 years ago, the Cedi and Pesewa were born.
The 1965 cedi, which replaced the Ghana pound, was equivalent to 8 shillings and 4 pence. It bore the portrait of President Kwame Nkrumah, symbolizing not just independence, but ideological ownership of national currency. The pesewa replaced the penny as the smallest unit, drawing its name from the gold dust trading era.
It was more than a monetary change. It was a declaration of independence at the microeconomic level, where every market woman, civil servant, and cocoa farmer could feel, touch, and use a currency that wasn’t imposed from London but crafted in Accra.
The Overthrow and the ‘New’ Cedi
Just two years later, Nkrumah’s government was overthrown in 1966. Along with it went his image from the national currency.
In 1967, the military government introduced the “New Cedi” (N¢), replacing the earlier notes at a rate of ¢1.20 to N¢1. The change was as political as it was economic. By 1973, the prefix “new” had disappeared, and the currency was again simply known as the cedi, still Ghanaian, but now free of its founding president’s imprint.
The Tumultuous Years: Inflation, Demonetisation, and Erosion
What followed was a period marked by economic turbulence. The 1970s and 1980s were especially difficult, as Ghana battled hyperinflation, political instability, and declining productivity. The value of the cedi eroded rapidly. In 1979, the government took the drastic step of demonetising old notes, introducing new ones but applying a 30% to 50% discount depending on the amount exchanged. It was a painful adjustment, especially for ordinary people whose cash savings lost value overnight.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the cedi continued to lose ground to major foreign currencies. Higher denominations were introduced, stretching up to ¢5,000 notes and ¢500 coins, a sign of inflationary pressure that couldn’t be ignored. The physical size and volume of cash in everyday transactions became cumbersome.
2007 Redenomination: A Fresh Start
By the early 2000s, there was broad consensus that the cedi needed rescuing, not just from inflation, but from complexity. In 2007, under the leadership of the Bank of Ghana, the redenomination exercise was undertaken. Four zeros were knocked off. The “new Ghana Cedi” (GHS) was introduced, with 1 GHS = 10,000 old cedis.
This reset was more than arithmetic. It restored confidence, simplified accounting, and made Ghana’s currency more comparable internationally. It also brought aesthetic changes, new portraits, landmarks, and security features that reinforced the cedi’s identity in a globalised economy.
The Cedi Today: Still Evolving, Still Standing
Today, Ghana’s cedi remains one of the few national currencies in West Africa not pegged to the CFA franc. It floats freely, rising and falling with global commodity prices, domestic policy, election cycles, and economic reforms. Over the past two decades, it has faced renewed inflation, currency depreciation, and challenges linked to external debt and import reliance.
Yet, through it all, the cedi remains, adaptable, familiar, and symbolic.
It has been demonetised, redenominated, and rebranded, but never replaced. It has seen presidents come and go, structural adjustment programs rise and fall, and global crises shake the economy. But it has also seen innovation, digital payments, e-cedi pilots, mobile money integration, each one proof that Ghana’s currency is still evolving with its people.
More Than Money, A Mirror
At 60, the cedi is not just currency. It is a mirror of Ghana’s hopes, its policy shifts, and its ability to weather storms. Its story is not linear; it is layered, made of progress and pauses, victories and vulnerabilities.
Perhaps most importantly, the cedi continues to hold together Ghana’s economic story in a way few symbols do. Whether in the hands of a banker in Accra or a plantain seller in Tamale, it still commands trust, even if sometimes reluctantly given.
As the country looks forward to the next phase of development, the quiet legacy of the cedi reminds us that national progress isn’t only in big announcements and budget speeches. Sometimes, it’s in the small notes and coins we exchange every day, each one carrying the weight of history and the promise of tomorrow.
