In the latest development, the Bank of Namibia and the South African (SA) Reserve Bank (SARB) have signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) intended to deepen institutional cooperation in areas including financial surveillance, regulatory frameworks, payment systems and cross\u2011border stability.<\/p>\n
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Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, SARB Spokesperson Yolanda Vatsha said the agreement forms part of wider regional collaboration through platforms such as the Committee of Central Bank Governors and the broader Association of African Central Banks.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese MOUs stem from cooperation agreements we already have in various committees. They translate into bilateral agreements depending on the need and emerging topics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The original MOU between SA and Namibia was signed in 2015. A decade later, it has been updated to reflect new challenges, including anti\u2011money\u2011laundering frameworks, payment modernisation and crisis\u2011management cooperation.<\/p>\n
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Vatsha said the core purpose of the agreements is secure and confidential information\u2011sharing to support financial stability. \u201cWe need to be able to cooperate in the event of a crisis at any central bank. That is largely what the MOUs do,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
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She noted that financial crime cooperation has grown in importance, especially following SA\u2019s removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list. SARB has recently hosted peer\u2011learning sessions for regional central banks to share lessons on strengthening supervision, coordinating between institutions and closing regulatory gaps.<\/p>\n
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Asked how stronger collaboration could support intra\u2011African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area, Vatsha pointed to the role of SADC\u2019s common monetary area, regional governors\u2019 committees and continental groupings such as the Association of African Central Banks.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese forums allow us to discuss how to strengthen financial systems, improve policy alignment and support more seamless cross\u2011border trade and payments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28183,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-28182","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Money laundering and the financing of terrorism remain major concerns across the Southern African Development Community SADC), prompting member states to strengthen coordination among central banks to safeguard financial systems and support cross\u2011border stability.\u00a0","published_date":"","news_description":"Money laundering and the financing of terrorism remain major concerns across the Southern African Development Community SADC), prompting member states to strengthen coordination among central banks to safeguard financial systems and support cross\u2011border stability.\u00a0","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28184,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28182\/revisions\/28184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}