Luanda:The National Bank of Angola (BNA) Governor, Manuel Tiago Dias, has called for enhanced financial integration and cooperation among central banks within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to protect regional economies from external shocks.
According to Angola Press News Agency, Dias made this appeal during the 63rd Meeting of the SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors in Luanda. He emphasized the need for member states to transition from institutional collaboration to a concrete agenda focusing on macroeconomic convergence, payment systems interoperability, and deeper regional financial markets.
During his speech, Dias stressed that cooperation among central banks should extend beyond institutional solidarity to become a tool for managing common risks, citing global uncertainties, commodity price volatility, and capital flow fluctuations. He also highlighted Angola's recent economic achievement of reducing inflation to single digits, while cautioning that the main challenge moving forward is maintaining this trend, safeguarding household purchasing power, investor confidence, and market predictability.
Additionally, Dias mentioned the integration of Angola's currency, the kwanza, into the SADC Real-Time Gross Settlement System (SADC-RTGS) as an essential step towards modernizing regional payments and facilitating faster, more cost-effective cross-border transactions. The meeting also aims to bring central bank leaders from SADC member nations together to align monetary policies, enhance banking supervision, and promote regional financial inclusion without creating new barriers through digitization.
