Flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, announced that individualized credit scoring will be introduced in Ghana before the end of the year, aiming to simplify life for Ghanaians who wish to make purchases on credit and pay over time.
The Vice President noted that this initiative will shift the country away from a cash-based system and foster the growth of young businesses.
During a ceremony marking International Youth Day at the Pentecost Convention Center in the Central Region on Monday, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the transformative potential of this upcoming credit system.
“This system will open up new opportunities for individuals and small businesses to access credit, which in turn will drive economic growth and job creation.
“We are shifting from a cash-based system to a credit-based one, where credit scoring will enable lenders to make informed decisions. This means that someone, like a hairdresser who has just completed training, can purchase equipment on credit and pay in small installments over time. The same applies to carpenters and other professionals.”
The Vice President also vowed to offer digital training to one million youths if he is elected President in the upcoming elections.
“One of the areas that I am going to be very keen on is training one million youth in digital skills. This is because without the skills the youth cannot have the opportunity to participate fully in the fourth industrial revolution. There are many job opportunities, both inside and outside Ghana if you have the skills and training the youth in digital skills can be done without the youth necessarily having a university degree or going to a polytechnic.”
Based on the available information, a credit-scoring system is a statistical tool used by financial institutions and lenders to evaluate a borrower’s creditworthiness.
This system assists lenders in identifying whether a borrower poses a high or low risk, and an individual’s credit score can influence both the maximum loan amount they can obtain and the applicable interest rate.
In countries without personalized credit-scoring systems, all borrowers are typically viewed as high-risk, leading to generally higher interest rates across the board.