President Barrow urges stakeholders for policy implementation that raise living standards on the Continent
By: Our Correspondent
President Adama Barrow has on Thursday urged the Governors of various African Central Banks and heads of financial and monetary institutions for the implementation of policies that will raise the living standard of the African continent with transformation on nations into higher-income countries.
Barrow said with the resilient economies, they will be better positioned to implement policies that ensure job creation, women empowerment and youth employment in Africa.
President Barrow was speaking as he officially opened the 44th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Governors of the African Continent organized by the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) with the theme “Digital Innovation and the Future of the Financial Sector: Opportunities and the Challenges for Central Banks Digital Currencies,” asAfrican countries look forward to adopting a single currency and a common Central Bank in Africa.
The session held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara’s International Conference Centre in Bijilo converged various Governors of African Central Banks and heads of financial and monetary institutions across the continent.
While he acknowledged and applauded the significant improvements made toward the monetary cooperation program, President Barrow commended on the finalization of the draft statutes and structure of the African Monetary Institute to direct the implementation of the program with an urged to all countries to step up action on the agreed convergence criteria.
President Barrow said as the objectives of the Association of African Central Bank Governors to promote cooperation on monetary, banking, and financial matters in Africa, they conform to the principles of the African Union Free Trade Area established to integrate African economies, while they eagerly look forward to the results of the governors’ discussions, especially the review of the effectiveness of the international economic and financial institutions.
“I commend the Association for devising an integrated continental payment system. I understand that you achieved it through the establishment of the African inter-regional payment integration task force, working groups, and expert panels tasked to guide the monitoring and implementation of the project,” the President noted.
He added that the digital innovations have impressively transformed the global financial landscape, with the emergence of digital wallets, mobile transfers, block chain technologies, and interconnected payment systems, that this development has the potential to scale up and speed up Africa’s economic development through financial inclusion, economies of scale, and lower transaction costs, among others.
Barrow said that such innovations are critical factors for fiscal policy development, as they create opportunities for Central Banks to consider the use of digital currencies which come with regulatory challenges.
With the current global challenges that have adverse effects on African economies, he said they continue to experience decreasing supply of basic and essential commodities, amid the rising demand for them, resulting in higher market prices, as a result, these developments further constrain the tight fiscal space at hand.
However, he further called on the fiscal policy experts, to provide proactive measures, while he implored them to support their fiscal and other sector colleagues in government to stem the effects of these shocks and build resilient African economies.
