Luanda - The governor of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), Manuel Tiago Dias, said Tuesday in Luanda that there are various initiatives by his country and Namibia to make it easier for citizens of the two countries to use payment systems to carry out commercial transactions.
The governor made the statement at the end of a working meeting with the governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN), Johannes Gawaxab, to discuss cooperation between the two institutions, as part of the entry into operation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two Central Banks in 2023.
According to the BNA governor, so far technical work has been carried out and analyzed at the level of the Central Bank administrations and that it has been decided to deepen it, since balances must be found and the interests of both parties taken into account.
He added that situations will be avoided that occurred in the past in which a strong imbalance was noted, causing Angola to have accumulated a substantial debt as part of the implementation of the previous agreement, a situation that needs to be safeguarded.
"The protocol is at the stage of successfully identifying ways to implement it, and our aim is that by the end of the year we can clearly identify an instrument that will facilitate trade between the two countries, respecting the interests of both parties," Dias said.
The Angolan official said that a study has been recommended to the technical teams to provide indications of the export potential that exists in Angola and that could be used by the business community, as part of the implementation of the protocol.
The BNA governor also said that there are many factories in the country with the potential to export goods to the neighboring Republic of Namibia.
Manuel Tiago Dias pointed out that the meeting essentially focused on the implementation of the cooperation protocol signed by the two banking institutions.
"We reviewed what is being done to facilitate trade between Angola and Namibia, looking essentially at the instruments that should facilitate this cooperation, on the payment systems side," he said.
The BNA’s governor added that the prospects for cooperation in the research field between the two central banks are being analyzed and, while joint studies would be carried out to identify the export potential of both countries.
"Since we are drawing up the national strategy for financial inclusion, we had a conversation on this subject, and it turned out that the level we want to reach in 2028 is the level that Namibia is currently at," he said.
He also said that Angola has already formally expressed its intention to include its currency (Kwanzas) as one of the currencies within the SADC payment system that could be one of the instruments to contribute to boosting bilateral relations between Angola and Namibia.
The SADC RTGS is a regional electronic payment system developed by the SADC member states, with a view to settling cross-border transactions more quickly, without having to resort to intermediary banks outside the region.
The governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN), Johannes Gawaxab, on his turn emphasized the importance of the protocol, stressing that the gains are not only for the central banks, but also for entrepreneurs, since "the component we are working on is trade and finding mechanisms to facilitate and promote this activity".
The Namibian official stressed that the protocol has to do with trade and how we can facilitate this activity between the two countries, with economic research, ways and mechanisms for our entrepreneurs to have access to trade, information on money laundering and its associated crimes and financial inclusion," he said.
Gawaxab reiterated his support to BNA's initiatives having considered the co-operation between the two countries to be fruitful.
Johannes Gawaxab is in Luanda with the entourage of his country's President, Nangolo Mbumba, who chose Angola as the first country to visit at the beginning of his term.
The choice reflects the importance that Namibia gives to Angola, a neighboring country with a long shared history.
A fact that, in the recent past, led Namibia to open its doors to Angola's Kwanza so that it could circulate freely in that country.
The circulation of the Angolan currency in Namibia was suspended, in 2015, since it generated an inflow equivalent to 300 million dollars .ASS/AC/DAN/AMP
