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The digital revolution in the banking sector is within reach of Africa, believe experts and decision-makers from the continent gathered for two days in Mauritius. The 22 African countries discussed the best strategy to adopt. They called on central banks to fully play their role in the new digital currency ecosystem.
The example of the Central African Republic, with only 9% of the population using a computer, illustrated the divide that exists not only between Africa and the rest of the world, but also between the countries of the continent. This delay, which slows down the activities of banking operators, is now being reduced thanks to mobile services.
The Central African Minister of Finance, Hervé Ndoba, for example, called for central banks to be supported in these new practices. ” The bank has its full role to play in matters of regulations, means of payment, etc. All this must be done within a normative and regulatory framework. »
Thanks to mobile technologies, the Central African Republic, explains Hervé Ndoba, has undertaken many national and local initiatives, in particular the payment of civil servants’ salaries via mobile because they are geographically distant from banks. ” These are solutions that the government is implementing, which are also based on all the financial inclusion topics that our central bank is currently developing,” assures the Minister of Finance.
During this meeting organized at the initiative of the Bank of Mauritius and the Investment Agency of the country, the speakers called on central banks to show agility and take the lead in avoiding unregulated practices. This challenge is all the greater since cryptocurrency has been adopted in the Central African Republic.
Bitcoin is not viewed favorably in Yaoundé because a decentralized currency represents a threat to state sovereignty, argued Gilbert Didier Edoa, Secretary General at Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance, even if he advocates a openness to cryptocurrencies: ” It is the technology behind the currency that we must rather grasp, and of course take advantage of this need which is expressed. »
In Mauritius, in the absence of an experienced hierarchy familiar with new technologies, the central bank is perceived by commercial banks as a hindrance to the development of a new banking ecosystem. Bank of Mauritius does not, however, lack ambition with its project of a digital fiduciary currency, according to Ganessen Chinnappen, member of the Bank of Mauritius: ” We will soon present a strategic roadmap to introduce it into the economy of Mauritius. I think this is an opportunity in all sectors of the country”.
According to the Mauritius Bankers Association, the largest share of the profits of the 19 Mauritian banks comes from abroad. They hope that the digitization of banking activities on the continent will resolve the so-called issue of the transferability and interoperability of currencies.