The human face of digital finance and its hidden cost

Ghana wears its digital finance success like a medal. Mobile money accounts now outnumber bank accounts by a wide margin, and transaction values run into hundreds of billions of cedis a year. Policymakers cite these figures as proof that the country has achieved financial inclusion; however, the numbers tell only half the story. Behind every transaction sits a human being who often does not understand what the screen says, and behind that person stands an agent. The agent carries the weight o...

By Prince Adu-Owusu