Central Bank Digital Currency: All you need to know about BoG's 'eCedi Hackathon'

The Bank of Ghana has scheduled a Pitch Day for shortlisted applicants to unveil their innovative concepts that have potential to reshape the landscape of payment systems in Ghana and the Central Bank's Digital Currencies.

The event is set to take place on Friday November 3, 2023

Dubbed as eCedi Hackathon, the tech-based initiative is a cutting-edge competition that brings together the brightest minds in technology and finance to explore the endless possibilities of CBDC.

It has been designed to foster innovation, drive technological advancement, and develop solutions that will redefine the Ghanaian financial landscape.

The BoG in collaboration with EMTECH and other key stakeholders initially shortlisted 25 individuals and teams with a passion for technology.

The number has since been moved up to an impressive total of 68 outstanding applications, comprising 54 team entries and 14 individual submissions have progressed to present their pitches to Central Bank officials.

The applicants include software developers, blockchain experts, financial analysts and individuals with a passion for innovation.

In 2022, the Bank of Ghana successfully piloted both online and offline use cases of the eCedi and how it could expand financial inclusion.

To continue with this effort, Bank of Ghana, in partnership with EMTECH introduced the “eCedi Hackathon” to provide opportunity for individuals and teams to pioneer transformative solutions in the realm of digital currencies.

The theme for the eCedi Hackathon is; “Unlock the Future of Digital Finance with a digital cedi”.

Use cases for the eCedi

For the Hackathon, the BoG is seeking innovative ideas that leverage on CBDC tokens and APIs to prototype solutions or develop tools that address a technical problem.

These include:

*Use of eCedi in Merchants transactions (C2B)

*Use of eCedi for Government payments (G2P)

*Use of eCedi in Agriculture and Trade (C2B, B2B)

*Data Privacy while holding or transacting with eCedi

*Use eCedi for inbound remittance

*Combatting the use of eCedi for illicit transactions

*Make the eCedi Interoperable.

*KYC models / solutions for eCedi

*Possible models for cross-border payments and transactions

NOQ



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