The Ghanaian Mobile Money Agents Association has reiterated its demands that the government examine the rates of the Electronic Transfer Levy, or “E-levy.”
Their worries stem from recent discussions at the upcoming 3i Summit in Accra about financial inclusion.
The government implemented the e-levy in 2022 as a part of its efforts to implement policies that would aid in the mobilization of domestic revenue.
The e-levy, which was 1.75 percent, was lowered to 1.5 percent and then to 1 percent in response to multiple complaints.
Evans Otumfuo, the general secretary of the Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana, stated that additional evaluation is necessary and expressed hope for enhancing financial inclusion in Ghana in an interview with Citi News.
He claimed that the Bank of Ghana’s data showed increased use of mobile money platforms after rate decreases, which is why the government should think about reevaluating the rate.
Evans Otumfuo emphasized that the Association’s requests for the e-levy to be reviewed are intended to improve financial inclusion, particularly in the current digital era.
He spoke:
“We are going to make a case for the government to really as a matter of urgency consider reducing the e-levy rate. Because once that is done, we believe that we are going to get more of the value, and so the e-levy should be either scrapped or finally reduced to the barest minimum,”
“We have always been advocating for conditions and policies that would encourage uptake of financial products and some of these policies. We believe if they are implemented, it will encourage the adoption of financial platforms and financial means of transactions.
“So, from the onset of e-levy, we strongly opposed the idea of placing a tax on mobile money with the idea that it is going to discourage the growth of the sector. Because there are a lot of consumers who may be shying away due to the cost applied on it.”
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