An ethnographic assessment of electronic cash transfers in Ghana's remote rural north

Abstract

The study concerns the qualitative assessment of three e-payment methods that are tested to optimize cash transfers for the sake of social protection and poverty alleviation throughout Ghana. These methods include: (e-Zwich) smartcards with biometric identification; e-wallets using mobile phones; and cards with PIN to access a bank count ´in the cloud´. The pilot is joint venture of the government of Ghana, the United Kingdom's Department For International Development (DFID) and UNICEF. Besides the innovative use of technology, a unique trait of the project is the initiators acknowledgement of the crucial importance of a thorough and holistic understanding of the context and conditions of implementation. As a result, ethnographic fieldwork is conducted to maximize chances of success. Our presentation in Cape Town involves some reflections on the fieldwork as well as a contemplation of the potential of such applied anthropology in the field of ICTD, both contextualized by means of the ethnographic depiction of the complex transition from unbanked to e-banked in northern Ghana.