The SADC Payment System Integration Project team has made significant progress since the official launch of the project in February 2010. A proposal by the project team set out the advantages of making use of parity in the Common Monetary Area (CMA) currencies to test the possibility of implementing a single-currency cross-border settlement system within the CMA environment. It is envisaged that other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will adopt the system either when the single SADC currency is introduced or even in a designated currency.

The March 2011 integration workshop investigated the regulatory and oversight requirements of an integrated payment system environment. Attendees included payment system representatives of SADC member countries, the Committee of Central Bank Governors’ (CCBG) subcommittees and international experts.

A workgroup comprising payment system rep-resentatives of the CMA countries was established to develop the cross-border settlement system in the CMA. The workgroup meets regularly to investigate the underlying technical and legal considerations for a cross-border solution.

Delegates from SADC countries outside the CMA, comprising Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe, expressed a desire to participate in the workshops. These delegates were invited to the workshop held in July 2011. A delegate from Zambia attended.

Workshops on remittances were held in Zambia and Malawi with local role-players in the remittances environment, to investigate issues encountered by recipients of low-value worker-remittance payments.

The project team aims to continue with the activities listed below during 2011 and 2012, subject to discussion and consideration by the country leaders. Focus will specifically be given to1. formulating a solution to reduce the cost of low-

value worker-remittance flows between SADC member countries;

2. implementing the solution for low-value worker-remittance flows between SADC countries;

3. developing the first phase of the proposed cross-border regional payment and settlement solution; and

4. initiating a pilot project for the first phase of the integrated cross-border regional payment and settlement solution in the CMA countries.

SADC Payment System Project Report

1

VULINDLELAPayment System ProjectA project of the Committee of Central Bank Governors

October 2011

Open the Way

Delegates at the SADC Payment System Integration Workshop held in Centurion,South Africa, from 22 to 24 March 2011

2

SADC Payment System Project initiatives

1. Payment system statistical data

The payment system project team (the project team) is in the process of collecting and editing the statistical data for 2009, which will be published by the end of 2011.

2. Interaction with other role-players in the regional integration effort

The project team has a working relationship with all role-players and stakeholders in the integration effort, and has continued its close interaction with all CCBG subcommittees. CCBG subcommittees with interfaces to the payment system project were invited to participate in the Payment System Integration Workshop in March 2011.

The programme provided for direct interaction with each subcommittee. Each subcommittee was requested to make a presentation that was followed by a discussion on the integration effort of the specific subcommittee, with specific reference to the payment system integration project. Interfaces and dependencies were identified.

In addition, the project team attended the CCBG subgroup meetings where it was expected to present on the progress it had made and highlight aspects that would need to be addressed to assist in the payment system integration project.

3. SADC settlement system

The project team presented a proposal to implement and test a cross-border settlement system in the CMA to the CCBG. The planned implementation of a cross-border settlement system uses the current parity (the one-to-one relationship) in currencies of the CMA countries, as

a basis for testing a single-currency system in the CMA countries.

A workgroup comprising payment system representatives from the CMA countries was established to investigate the first phase of the cross-border solution. Workshops were held during February, May and July 2011 to investigate the underlying technical and legal considerations for the implementation of such a cross-border solution. At the March 2011 meeting, three non-CMA SADC countries, namely Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe indicated their interest to participate in the core design team of the cross-border solution. A delegate from Zambia attended a subsequent workshop in July 2011.

The project team met with the CMA governors to present progress on the design of the solution and to obtain approval to proceed with the pilot project. Approval was granted to the project team to proceed with the first phase of the project to develop and implement a cross-border solution in the CMA countries.

4. Cross-border remittances

The project team’s meetings with regulators, to establish if regulatory requirements for cross-border money transfers could be relaxed for low-value worker remittances, resulted in the Financial Intelligence Centre considering the request. The relaxations were presented to the commercial banks, which were requested to translate the proposed exemptions into a cost saving for the general public.

The initial plan of the project team is to initiate a project to develop a solution and test it in a few selected corridors before rolling it out to the other countries in the region. Plans are under way to work with regulators in Malawi and Zambia to establish where processes may be simplified to enable recipients of funds to access their money as conveniently as possible.

Delegates at the SADC Payment System Integration Workshop held in Centurion, South Africa, from 22 to 24 March 2011

3

SADC country reports

CountryLink to report

Link to country article

Title of the article

AngolaDevelopments of the Angolan

Interbank Clearing System

Botswana

Democratic Republic of Congo

Lesotho

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

44

Quiz: SADC in sports1. Which city will host the 2012 Olympic Games? 2. How many times has London hosted the Olympic

Games? In which years did this happen? 3. How many sporting codes will form part of the

Olympic Games programme in 2012?4. Which SADC country submitted a failed bid

to host the 2004 Olympic Games? Which country eventually hosted the games?

5. Name the first African country to participate in the Olympic Games. In which year did this happen? Name the athletes who represented it.

6. Name the last SADC country to enter the Olympic fold. In which year did it first participate?

7. Name the SADC country that made its winter Olympic debut in 1992. In which sport did it participate?

8. Name the South African woman swimmer who won two gold medals in the 1996 Olympic Games, thereby becoming the first woman to win both the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke at the same Olympic Games?

9. How many SADC countries have athletes who have qualified for the Olympic Games in 2012?

10. Name the two continents that have never hosted the Olympic Games?

Click here for the answers.

Payment System Project LeaderDave Mitchell Tel: +27 12 313 3442 Dave.Mitchell@resbank.co.za Fax: +27 12 313 4152

Banco Nacional de AngolaJoao Romao Coje Tel: +244 222 370563jrcoje@bna.ao Fax: +244 222 391382

Bank of Botswana Oakantse Modisa Tel: +267 360 6026modisao@bob.bw Fax: +267 391 2101

Banque Centrale du CongoKapinga Tshimanga Ngele Tel: +243 81 403 2311tshim.kapinga@bcc.cd Fax: +243 81 301 0898

Central Bank of LesothoMalineo Motebang Tel: +266 22314281 Ext. 2137mmotebang@centralbank.org.ls Fax: +266 310051

Banque Centrale de MadagascarSerge Ramanitrera Mamilalaina Tel: +261 20 222 1751s.ramanitrera@bfm.mg Fax: +261 20 223 4532

Reserve Bank of MalawiFraser Mdwazika Tel: +265 177 0565fmdwazika@rbm.mw Fax: +265 177 0321

Bank of Mauritius Dhanesswurnath Thakoor Tel: +230 202 3935dthakoor@bom.intnet.mu Fax: +230 211 7103

Banco de MoçambiqueHenrique E Matsinhe Tel: +258 21 428 379henrique.matsinhe@bancomoc.mz Fax: +258 21 326 213

Bank of NamibiaBrian Gei-Khoibeb Tel: +264 61 283 5205brian.geikhoibeb@bon.com.na Fax: +264 61 283 5228

South African Reserve BankTim Masela Tel: +27 12 313 3424Tim.Masela@resbank.co.za Fax: +27 12 313 4152

Central Bank of Seychelles Christophe Edmund Tel: +9248 225 200christophe.edmund@cbs.sc Fax: +9248 224 958

Central Bank of Swaziland Mandla Dlamini Tel: +268 408 2132MandlaD@centralbank.org.sz Fax: +268 408 2246

Bank of TanzaniaLucy Kinunda Tel: +255 22 223 5432lskinunda@hq.bot-tz.org Fax: +255 22 223 4196

Bank of Zambia Lazarus Kamanga Tel: +260 211 221313lkamanga@boz.zm Fax: +260 211 228755

Reserve Bank of ZimbabweJosephat Mutepfa Tel: +263 470 3000 jmutepfa@rbz.co.zw Fax: +263 470 3808

Country representatives project team

South African Reserve BankNational Payment System DepartmentHein Timoti Tel: +27 12 313 4738Hein.Timoti@resbank.co.za Fax: +27 12 313 4152

Payment System AnalystAnrich Daseman Tel: +27 12 313 4452Anrich.Daseman@resbank.co.za Fax: +27 12 313 4152

Website administratorEretha du Toit Tel: +27 12 313 4107Eretha.duToit@resbank.co.za Fax: +27 12 313 4288

Design, layout and language editingStrategy and Communications DepartmentSouth African Reserve Bank

Any information regarding the SADC Payment System Project may be obtained from: