Ghana’s economy is characterised by acute exchange rate volatility alongside persistent and high consumer inflation. This places the economy among the sub-Saharan African countries with the highest inflation over the years. Therefore, we explore in-sample and out-of-sample macro-volatility spillovers to determine the effectiveness of monetary policy and also ascertain the relevance of the exchange rate in Ghana’s interest rate setting at both time and multiscale domains. The study reveals scale-dependent interconnectedness among the macro-variables as their causal linkages broadly intensify at the longer time-scale. We find the real policy rate and the exchange rate to be net transmitters of shocks, while inflation and output gaps are net receivers of shocks from the system. Output gap, however, is the largest net receiver of shocks from the system. The empirical findings generally buttress the prerequisite to uphold exchange rate stability in order to inure general macroeconomic stability in Ghana. In addition, the extent of spillover dynamics from policy interest rate to and from the targeted macro-variables (particularly output gap and inflation) appears to be moderate even in the long run, surmising less effective monetary policy transmission in Ghana.
The mobile phone technology has been used to solve problems through various innovative ways of which Mobile Financial Services (MFS) is inclusive. As the world is becoming populated, attention has been drawn to how technology could help solve problems. One of such innovations is mobile financial services. In the case of Ghana, mobile financial service has now gained its way through many businesses and individuals as well. The aim of this research therefore is to evaluate MFS provision in Ghana by looking at its awareness and usage, customer satisfaction level, challenges and opportunities available. One hundred and fifty (150) respondents partook in this research work and analysis was done using SPSS. From the research, it was identified that people still have a lot of expectations for MFS provisioning in Ghana and these future desires which include foreign exchange services, ATM transactions in MFS, online shopping and online payments must be harnessed by MFS providers to satisfy the customer and protect their market share. Also, liaising with the banks can promote MFS transactions; and the ability of operators to ensure a stable network for the growth of MFS in Ghana. Through industryled initiatives, including partnerships with banks and other third parties, MFS providers can enhance the customer experience and reaching scale to evolve the sector to a new phase of maturity in Ghana. Eight different recommendations were made based on user experience in this paper.
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