Governor of Bank of Namibia, Johannes !Gawaxab, recently concluded meetings with some of his African counterparts to, among others strengthen collaborations and seek mutually beneficial relationships among African central banks.
A media statement issued by BoN on Tuesday highlighted that !Gawaxab’s meetings with the Banks of Botswana and Ghana Governors Moses Dinekere Pelaelo and Dr Ernest Addison, discussed key price and financial stability issues and economic developments.
“This included issues such as inflationary challenges in African economies due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, potential recession in advanced economies, and supply chain disruptions, as well as the responses to date based on each country’s peculiar circumstances.
The central bank leaders also discussed issues of rising debt levels which featured prominently as well as efforts to tackle the challenge,” the document noted.
Additionally, the discussions also aimed to compare notes on the digital transformation of respective institutions, digital currencies and financial inclusion, among other emerging central banking topics.
While pursuing collaboration on relevant projects to aid cooperation on these and other topics, the importance of learning from one another through benchmarking was further emphasised.
In Ghana, !Gawaxab emphasised the significance of formalising cooperation with the Bank of Ghana in the spirit of the two countries’ excellent relations.
He further indicated that the BoN had launched its Strategic Plan (2022-2024), which outlines its transformational journey aimed at digitising the Bank and enhancing financial inclusion to serve the excluded.
The Governor further signified challenges experienced in the informal economy and Namibians’ inability to access affordable and quality services primarily in rural areas.
Dr Addison recognised Ghana’s own initiatives established and implemented, such as banking sector reforms, and mobile money interoperability, in response to some of these developments.
Pelaelo presented on the operations of Botswana central bank and shared relevant information on the Pula Fund – Botswana’s highly impactful sovereign wealth fund which is equivalent to Namibia’s Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
