What changed
On 2 April 2025, the Electronic Transfer Levy (Repeal) Bill was signed into law by President John Mahama, formally ending the 1% E-Levy that had applied to mobile money transfers in Ghana since May 2022.
The repeal was an explicit campaign commitment of the new government, which framed the levy as a regressive tax that disproportionately hit low-income users who rely on MTN MoMo, AirtelTigo Money and Telecel Cash for everyday payments. Within hours of the signing, the three operators removed the levy line from their tariff sheets.
A short history of the E-Levy
The E-Levy was introduced in May 2022 by the previous Akufo-Addo administration as a 1.5% charge on most electronic transfers. It was reduced to 1% in 2023 after strong public pushback. From day one the policy was controversial: civil-society organisations, opposition parties and the major operators all argued that the tax would push users back toward cash and undermine years of progress in financial inclusion. Mobile-money transaction volumes did temporarily dip after the levy's introduction, and growth in active wallet count slowed measurably through 2022-2023, though the long-term trend recovered.
Who pays what now
Before the repeal, a GH¢200 transfer carried a GH¢2 government levy on top of the operator fee. After 2 April 2025, the same transfer carries only the operator fee, with no government deduction. For a high-frequency small-amount user — a market trader receiving daily takings, a family splitting groceries — the cumulative saving over a year can run into hundreds of cedis.
Use the Ghana fee calculator to see the exact updated numbers per operator and amount band.
Fiscal impact
The Bank of Ghana had projected the E-Levy to raise around GH¢8 billion over its lifetime. The repeal removes that revenue line. The Ministry of Finance has indicated alternative measures will be introduced to plug the gap — most likely through broader VAT compliance and corporate-tax base widening rather than another transaction-level tax. The IMF programme that Ghana is currently operating under will need to accommodate the revenue shortfall in its quarterly review framework.
Operator response
MTN MoMo, AirtelTigo Money and Telecel Cash all updated their app and USSD tariff displays within the first 48 hours after the signing. The three operators have together since reported uplifts in P2P transfer volume; MTN MoMo Ghana noted in a Q2 2025 update that small-ticket transfers (under GH¢100) showed the strongest rebound, consistent with the regressive-tax thesis.
What about cross-border
Ghana is not part of the WAEMU PI-SPI free-transfer zone (that covers the eight CFA-franc countries only — see our WAEMU page). Cross-border Ghana → Nigeria or Ghana → Côte d'Ivoire transfers continue to use the standard MoneyGram, Western Union or MTN MoMo cross-border rails, which carry their own fees but no E-Levy. The repeal applies strictly to domestic Ghana mobile money transactions.
Calculate updated Ghana fees
Open the Ghana fee calculator →