The University of Ghana and the Bank of Ghana have unveiled a bold plan to transform Africa’s financial system.
The initiative is anchored on a newly created chair in economics and finance, with its lead architect promising a blueprint that could redefine the continent’s economic future
At the heart of the initiative is Professor Yegandi Imhotep Paul Alagidede, the newly appointed chairholder, who set out his vision in a charged inaugural lecture at the UG Cedi Conference Centre under the theme “From Cowries to Crypto.”
Alagidede argued that Africa’s financial systems — shaped by colonial legacies and imported models — fail to reflect the continent’s true wealth.
“Africa is not poor… it is rich in resources, talent, and ideas. What it needs is a financial system that reflects its true value,” he said.
He described Ghana’s inflation as a structural problem driven largely by food prices rather than central bank policy. “Over 60% of inflation is driven by food prices,” he said, pointing to poor roads, storage challenges and market inefficiencies as the main culprits, not interest rates alone.
The professor proposed a concept he calls “Metanomics” — a financial system built around Africa’s natural resources and powered by modern technology.
“Money should be backed by gold, cocoa, oil, solar energy.”
He also unveiled a digital currency model, NAK, which would allow farmers to use tokenized versions of their crops as collateral for loans. Pilot programs using the model in Bono and the Northern Savannah, he said, have already cut inflation volatility by 30% and boosted credit to small businesses by more than 200%.
To bring his vision to life, Alagidede called for amendments to the Bank of Ghana Act to add a development mandate, the launch of Africa’s first fully resource-backed central bank digital currency, and new institutions at the University of Ghana to lead what he calls “quantum monetary design.”
He ended with a challenge to reimagine Africa’s place in the global financial system.
“Accra must become the capital of quantum finance. Let the world come… not to teach, but to learn,” he said.
The event marks a major step in the University of Ghana’s drive to link academic research with real-world financial innovation and policymaking.
Story by Emmanuel Eugene Darkwah|univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Michelle Lartey
