SADC concludes Payment Systems Regional Conference

By Ntombi Mhlongo

The Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s Payment Systems Subcommittee under the SADC Committee of the Central Bank Governors (CCBG) has concluded a two-day annual regional conference in Windhoek, Namibia, to deliberate on developments in the ecosystem of regional payment systems.

The conference also addressed the impact of digitisation on initiatives to enhance financial inclusion and integrity. According to a statement issued on the SADC website, the session comes in light of new developments in the payments industry which are full of new opportunities and challenges.

“This Payment Systems Annual Regional Conference was an opportunity for sharing best practices and peer-to-peer learning for the benefit of SADC Member States on topical areas such as FinTech, modernisation of payment systems, cyber security, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).”

Member States as well as internationally recognised institutions in the payments industry convened to share their experiences, insights, and futuristic solutions with delegates on topics related to the evolution of payment systems regulations in the digital era, the adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), digitisation of cross-border payments to drive financial inclusion, sound approaches to cyber resilience in the digital world and key considerations for modernising payment systems.

The SADC Secretariat, through the Support to Improving the Business Environment Programme (SIBE) in the SADC Region, in collaboration with the Bank of Namibia and the Regional Payment Systems Integration Project Office, supported the conference.

SIBE is a five-year programme implemented by the SADC Secretariat and supported by the European Union (EU) to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth and support job creation through the transformation of the region into an investment zone promoting intra-regional investment and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), in particular for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).