The Retail Finance Distribution Research Initiative (ReFinD) has contributed evidence and industry perspectives to the Bank of Ghana's review of agency banking guidelines, drawing on insights and recommendations from a high-level roundtable the Initiative organised in 2025. Outcomes of the roundtable – which brought together stakeholders to examine Ghana's agency banking governance against the backdrop of the sector's 15-year evolution - offered a valuable and timely input into the Bank of Ghana workshop to review draft guidelines on agency banking for banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs).
ReFinD Project Director Roselyn Adadzewa Otoo and Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Daniel Osafo represented the Initiative at the workshop, held on 25 August 2026 in Accra, presenting the roundtable's outcomes and contributing to discussions on the draft guidelines.
Commenting on ReFinD's participation, Prof. Peter Quartey, Executive Director of ReFinD, said the engagement, “aligns with our commitment to ensuring that evidence reaches the spaces where important decisions are made," emphasising the Initiative's commitment to strengthening a robust and inclusive financial ecosystem in Ghana.
From industry dialogue to policy engagement
The insights presented at the Bank of Ghana workshop emerged from a ReFinD-led industry roundtable held on 15 July 2025 as part of the Evidence to Action Conference 2025. Titled "Enhancing Governance in Agent Banking Networks for Deeper Financial Inclusion at the Last Mile," the roundtable brought together key actors from the Bank of Ghana, regulated financial service providers, dedicated e-Money issuers, agent network industry associations, the Ministry of Finance, academia and development agencies.
It provided an independent platform for stakeholders to assess the existing governance framework against emerging challenges in Ghana's rapidly expanding agent banking ecosystem, and to identify practical opportunities to strengthen agent banking networks and support deeper financial inclusion at the last mile.
The roundtable's recommendations were subsequently shared with the Bank of Ghana and informed ReFinD's participation in the review of the draft agency banking guidelines. The engagement demonstrates how ReFinD connects stakeholder dialogue and evidence generation with policy action, translating financial-sector insights into input that decision makers and practitioners can use.
Read more about the ReFinD roundtable: Financial sector players discuss agent banking governance at ReFinD multistakeholder roundtable