The Benefits and Challenges of Ghana's Redenomination Exercise to Market Women - A Case Study of Adum, Kejetia and Central Markets in Kumasi Metropolis

The cedi, Ghana's official currency, was introduced on July 19, 1965. The value of the cedi has depreciated drastically since its introduction. Owing to the low values of the notes and coins, huge quantities had to be printed and minted to meet the local demands. This costs the central bank of Ghana huge sums of money. To curtail this menace, the 2007 redenomination exercise became necessary. Other reasons for 2007 redenomination include security, portability, time saving, difficulty in software and accounting procedure in the old Cedi. The study was about the re-denomination of the cedis; the benefits and challenges to market women. The researcher adopted Convenience and Simple Random Sampling method to collect both qualitative and quantitative data in order to achieve the research objectives. In total, hundred (100) questionnaires were self-administered within Adum, Kejetia and central market in Kumasi Metropolis. The findings revealed that the major benefits of the new Ghana cedi to market women is the security as a result of the portability of the new currency compared to the old cedi. The major challenges identified by the study are difficulty identifying counterfeit notes, difficulty changing the Ghc50 note when customers buy from the market women and the difficulty in using the New Gh1 pesewa coin as many customers refuse to accept it as change from the market women. Finally the researcher recommends that the GH1p coin should be recall from circulation since the general public does not find it useful and people find it very difficult to handle. Also there should be more public education on the identification of counterfeits of the new Ghana Cedi notes which should be targeted at the urban market women and rural inhabitants due to level of illiteracy