At a conference titled, “Beyond Existing Microfinance, What Next?,” Ghana Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (M0FEP), Microfinance Director Kobina Amoah commented on the need for financial institutions to provide consumer education and protection in order to safeguard consumers’ rights.

Director Amoah stated that a recent government survey revealed that the level of knowledge about financial institutions’ services and products among both urban and rural Ghanaian adults was low. According to Director Amoah, the government is ready to support consumer education and protection through regulation, however, he stated, “the ethical commitment of financial institutions to pro-client principles” should be part of solution. Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, stated that the development of the microfinance sector in Ghana has consisted of the growth in savings and loans associations.  However, Vice Chacellor Opoku-Agyeman

called for use of innovative products, such as micro-leasing, micro-money transfer and microinsurance, adding that they were essential to the development of the financial sector.