Lack of infrastructure creates real barriers to growth
– whether these are barriers to physical travel or to
trade and communications.
Discussing the role of regional harmonisation projects as a catalyst for
African trade reform at the SWIFT African Regional Conference included
(from left to right):
• Christian Sarafidis, Head of Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, SWIFT
• Leina Gabaraane, Chairman of the SADC Banking Association and Managing
Director of Stanbic Botswana
• Dr Bwalya Ng’anda, Deputy Governor, Operations, Bank of Zambia
• Tim Masela, Head of the SADC Payments System Project, South Africa
Reserve Bank
• Ravi Shunmugam, Head, First National Bank Payments and in-country
payments leader, SADC Payments System Project (South Africa)
While acknowledging progress made, speakers stressed that
regional projects have to maintain the momentum and avoid
politicisation. Leina Gabaraane, Chairman of the SADC Banking
Association and Managing Director of Stanbic Botswana, warned
that participants should not lose sight of the fundamental drivers
for the SADC Payment System Project – such as driving regional
economic growth – nor lose the political will that set out to establish
the region as a hub.
‘We must not let issues become politicised, such as where will the
central bank be situated or what will be the settlement currency. We
have to remain focused on the benefits that we set out to create and
not be sidelined by individual interest,’ Gabaraane said.
In the panel looking at other regionalistion projects across Africa –
featuring Juliet Kairuki, SADC Banking Association and Twum OheneObeng, Deputy Director, West African Monetary Institute, among others
– the message was that Africa will stand or fall on collaboration.
Ohene-Obeng said projects require a significant amount of effort
and dedication from all participants, and that project leaders must
not forget to fully communicate the benefits. He said that the
move from paper to automation across WAMI had been a financial
revolution with a broad range of benefits – some of them unexpected.
‘Not only has automation had a big impact on the efficiency of our
money markets, it has generated significant benefits for central bank
liquidity management,’ he said.
SADC BA’s Kairuku said that the continent’s various projects
must ensure that they do not compete with each other. Participants
must remember the reason for these projects: the customer.
‘[Projects] should be learning from each other and co-operating
with each other. We should standardise our systems and processes
as much as possible so that the end product supports our customers
better than our own interests.’
ADDRESSING REGULATORY CHALLENGES
The regulatory panel examined the issues faced by banks and
operational challenges presented by sanctions compliance.
‘Sanctions compliance is a major challenge for banks,’ said Daniel
Agamah, Chief Risk Officer and Head of Compliance, Zenith Bank
in Ghana.
‘For example, due to the absence of a national database on
Politically Exposed Persons and because international blacklists are
usually not focused on local PEPs, banks are forced to develop their
own databases,’ he said. ‘These lists are not uniform, and may miss
sanctioned persons or affiliates,’ Agamah said.
He added that the screening process was challenging and timeconsuming, particularly in the case of small banks that have limited
compliance capabilities and teams.
Joseph Amoah-Awuah, Assistant Director in the Banking
Supervision Department, Bank of Ghana, said: ‘Banks need to
make dollar investments in systems such as SWIFT sanctions
screening tools and customer account monitoring mechanisms, to
be able to detect and report suspicious activities and transactions
to appropriate law enforcement agencies. This will enhance bankwide risk management and make them compliant with statutory
and regulatory requirements.’
Commending SWIFT for its role in fostering global
interconnectedness, Minister Kenneth Matambo said SWIFT has
already made significant advances in Africa. He urged delegates to
‘explore ways of creating a more cost-effective financial infrastructure
that will deepen pan-African economic integration by facilitating
trade and capital flows.’
‘This cannot be achieved without the availability of reliable and
secure messaging platforms that will underpin both domestic and
cross-border payments and transfers,’ Minister Matambo concluded.
By Hugo Smit, Head: SWIFT Africa South Region
For more information, please contact
SWIFT via Atmosphere PR on (+27) 82 825 3262,
or e-mail [email protected] or
visit www.swift.com.
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