Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

  Launched in 2009, Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. It inspired a host of others to be created, but so far none can match Bitcoin’s popularity and market capitalization. Bitcoin stands tall among other cryptocurrencies because it is backed by industrial-scale mining operations that support its value, and it has managed to achieve regulated market status in countries such as Asia, US and Europe and found its way onto the balance sheets of some publicly traded companies like Microstrategy (MSTR), Tesla (TSLA), Galaxy Digital Holdings (BRPHF), Voyager Digital (VYGVF) and Square (SQ). Bitcoin mining, provides the mechanism to support the effective running of Bitcoin. Through the addition of blocks or transaction records of cryptocurrency based on a competition by miners, a sort of electronic ledger is opened and a process of validation by electronic means is set in motion; a blockchain. Each block on the network comprises a hash that is a unique 64-digit hexadecimal value conta...

Knowledge Innovations, a leading tech consultancy firm in collaboration with the Ghana Fintech and Payments Association (GFPA), is set to hold a webinar on the theme, "FinTech Innovations in Africa – Trends, Challenges and Future" scheduled for Thursday, February 24, 2022. The FinTech and Innovations focused event would bring together the continent's leading thought leaders in providing you with unparalleled insights into Africa's fast-growing FinTech Key Geographical Market Developments, Key Innovations, Collaborations, Major Drivers, Growth Trends, How FinTech are Overcoming Some Key Challenges and Exciting Predictions for the Future. Some key leaders in the African fledgling industry would speak at this landmark event to provide rare insights into emerging trends in Africa's Fintech ecosystem. These speakers include Noha Shaker, Founder of the Egyptian Fintech Association; Saqib Nazir, the Managing Director, Africa for Emergent Technology; Ali Hussein, Fintech ...

Knowledge Innovations, a leading tech consultancy firm in collaboration with the Ghana Fintech and Payments Association, is set to hold a webinar on the theme, "FinTech Innovations in Africa – Trends, Challenges and Future" scheduled for Thursday, February 24, 2022. The FinTech and Innovations focused event would bring together the continent's leading thought leaders in providing you with unparalleled insights into Africa's fast-growing FinTech Key Geographical Market Developments, Key Innovations, Collaborations, Major Drivers, Growth Trends, How FinTech are Overcoming Some Key Challenges and Exciting Predictions for the Future. Some key leaders in the African fledgling industry would speak at this landmark event to provide rare insights into emerging trends in Africa's Fintech ecosystem.  These speakers include Noha Shaker, Founder of the Egyptian Fintech Association; Saqib Nazir, the Managing Director, Africa for Emergent Technology; Ali Hussein, Fintech and Di...

Kwami Ahiabenu ll For most people, WhatsApp is a cool tool for fun. So are Telegram, Signal, WeChat, Discord, iMessage, Messages, Viber, Facebook Message, Botim etc. However, WhatsApp with over a two billion users is undoubtedly the most popular of these. The widespread use and acceptance of WhatsApp as a messaging tool has many service providers aiming to make their services available on that platform in order to reach their numerous clients. In 2018 South Africa’s Absa Bank pioneered the concept of mobile banking. Since then, banks in recognition of the power of WhatsApp are offering a wide range of services on that platform, leading to optimal efficiency as customer requests are processed in real-time. Generally, there are three types of graduated applications of WhatsApp in the banking industry; first as a primary contact center tool where clients can interact with customer care and ask questions or verify information related to banking, eliciting automated responses such as “we wi...

  Kwami Ahiabenu ll Setting up a bank can be a long, expensive process with complex regulatory and compliance hurdles to overcome. However, with the emergence of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), an entity can provide banking services without batting an eyelid. With BaaS, non-banks including FinTech, and other entities such as professional bodies or schools can offer their own branded financial products such as debit, credit, or loyalty cards. In other words, BaaS opens up banking to third parties supporting the evolution of new services and enabling greater financial transparency. BaaS is assuming great importance because it offers a great potential to expand banking services, disrupting the status quo and offering solutions that support exceptional banking consumer experience. Banking-as-a-Service is centered on the open banking model, which emphasizes consumer-driven financial service opportunities with more significant benefits accruing to consumers. Banking-as-a-service (BaaS) can ...

  Kwami Ahiabenu ll The Automated Teller Machine (ATM) started its humble life in 1967 in the U.K. as a single-use dumb machine dispensing cash; a maximum of 14 USD at a time. Over time, the ATM has grown significantly into a smart device with full intelligence capabilities able to provide complete banking services such as deposits, withdrawals, requests, and printing of full-page bank statements. In recent times the ATM has evolved even further. It has become an Internet-enabled device that enables users to purchase or sell bitcoin or other cryptocurrency using cash, debit, credit card, or through electronic transfers for a transaction fee. Cryptocurrency is a groundbreaking currency based on blockchain, offering unapparelled transparency without any central control. The starting point to transact using cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin is registering a Bitcoin wallet with several available service providers. After that, the user loads “value” on it or receives funds onto it. On...

Rural and Community Banks serve as a key catalyst for the development of rural economies. Kwami Ahiabenu ll Currently, there are 144 licensed rural and community banks working to serve unbanked and underbanked populations in difficult-to-reach parts of Ghana. For an entity to be licensed as a rural bank or community Bank, the bank of Ghana (Ghana’s Central Bank) requires a minimum paid-up capital of GH¢1,000,000 [116,666 USD]. The operations of rural banks, are regulated throu g h a “mini”-central bank, the APEX Bank. This bank is unique in that it is a public limited liability company which has Rural & Community Banks as shareholders. When it comes to the technological applications used by rural and community banks, the APEX bank plays a crucial role, for example, it provides e-Banking, electronic channels such as Ezwich electronic payments system and payment distribution system (PDS) services to its member banks. However, the advent of Financial Technologies (FinTech), which desc...

  Digital identities have become important in our information society as they offer an easy way to navigate the increasingly complicated data and information spaces we have to deal with. Thus, instead of having a physical, academic certificate, passport, or driver’s license, the world of digital credentials opens the door to having verifiable digital footprint options across several applications. Simply put, digital credentials are the electronic version of paper-based credentials showing evidence of accomplishment, clearance, qualification, or competence with sufficient in-built mechanisms to enable authentication. Digital credentials provide information on issuing authority, its characteristics, purposes of issuance, and validity period. For example, instead of sending a paper-based certificate for a job application or school application, the digital credentials are transmitted with the same information on paper-based ones, including additional data such as the user’s biometric d...

A nine-member Governing Council for the African University College of Communications (AUCC) has been inaugurated in Accra.  The Council, which is chaired by Professor Kofi Asare Opoku, former Director of the Kwabena Nketia Centre for Africana Studies, includes Professor George Oduro former, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Dr Edith Dankwa, entrepreneur and proprietor of Business & Financial Times, Ms. Shirley Tony Kum, Corporate Communications Manager of Vivo Energy Ghana, Professor Pashington Obeng, formerly of Ashesi University, Mr. Paul Fabalona, a chartered accountant, Dr. Akosua Abdallah of the National Commission on Culture, and Mr. Kwami Ahiabenu II, Executive Director of Penplusbytes. Performing the inauguration, Founder of AUCC, Honorable Kojo Yankah, welcomed the team with diverse but very relevant professional backgrounds and charged them to build upon what previous councils have contributed to chart AUCC through challenging moments to today. He h...

By Kwami Ahiabenu   Recruitment of human capital can be an arduous and time-consuming process, especially if you have to go through thousands of job applications to find the right candidate for a position. Some recruiters can get overwhelmed with the tons of job applications to process; therefore, they do not bother going through these applications and instead rely on other means such as reference, especially from existing employees. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) supports recruiters by managing various aspects of collecting, sorting, and processing job applications based on a filtering system. Due to decreasing cost of the ATS technology, even small organizations are now increasingly relying on it, with  https://bit.ly/3cOquRH  projecting the ATS market size will reach USD 1.81 billion by 2023. Once the AT S , narrows down job applications to a smaller number, recruiting staff members will often continue with the application process. How does it work? The process usu...

Payment is a key function of our economy, allowing for the exchange of goods and services. Traditionally paper money and coins were the most dominant forms of payments, recently digital payments are making inroads.  The global  COVID-19  pandemic has had the unintended effect of accelerating the use of other forms of payments aside paper money and coins. This is because paper money and coins are said to be conduits for the transmission of COVID.  The World Health Organization (WHO) is known to have issued a warning at the beginning of the  COVID-19  pandemic that paper money could carry and spread the virus.  Though this assertion is not totally conclusive, there is no harm in reducing risks associated with contact-type payments. National public health officials have taken to advising that people make use of payment options that reduce contact with persons or devices, such as POS, since contactless payment opportunities make it safe for both consumers ...

Kwami R. Ahiabenu Selected publications and conferences  2020: Do Manifesto Matter : A study into how political parties use manifestos as an anti-corruption tool in Ghana (Penplusbytes) 2018: “Is International Media Reporting Holding Back Africa? Analyzing the problems with the coverage of Africa and proposing some solutions (Ford Foundation)  2018: “Media Perspectives on Fake News in Ghana” (Penplusbytes) 2018 : “Public sector ICT deployment in Ghana – a case study of National Information Technology Agency "Paper submitted to 10th International Applied Research Conference, ( Koforidua Technical University,Ghana) 2018: Defining Internet Universality Indicators: a Step Towards Internet Development and Policy World Press Freedom Ghana (2-3 May 2018, UNESCO) 2017: Creating Markets and Livelihoods Doing What you Love to Do! Making Media a Pathway to EmploymentCanada-IFC Africa Program Youth VideographyInitiative Training Program (24th August 2017, Accra-Ghana) Facil...