Johannesburg | Friday
THE first steps towards creating a single currency and a single central bank for Africa were taken at a meeting of the association of the continent’s central bank governors, its newly elected chairman said on Thursday.
South African Reserve Bank governor and new Association of Central African Bankers (AACB) chairman Tito Mboweni told journalists at a media conference that according to a framework plan, Africa was expected to have a single central bank and currency by 2021.
“The year 2021, I think I’ll be about 63 years old, we discussed the possibility of introducing and circulating a single common currency in Africa, and a period during which sub-regional monetary institutes cooperate alongside a central African bank,” Mboweni said.
He stressed that although governors believed the plan would be a reality 20 years from now, the date and time-frame needed further discussion.
“These are still very early days. But it is not pie in the sky. These things are achievable.
“It took the European Union not less than 30 years. With a consistent programme … in an organised fashion, these objectives are achievable,” he said.
Twenty-nine central bank governors have been meeting since Tuesday to discuss how the continent’s economies can be integrated with the formation of the new African Union.
The formation of the AU was a major development since the last AACB meeting, Mboweni said.
“Some of the objectives as laid out in the constitution of the African Union are among other things the establishment of an African Central Bank, African Monetary Fund and an African Investment Bank,” Mboweni said, adding that this formed the central focus of the meeting.
Mboweni said among other topics discussed were macroeconomic policies in Africa, including the adjustment of exchange rates and the containment of inflation to less than 10% by 2012.
Earlier Thursday, South African President Thabo Mbeki called on governors to rebel against any exercise of absolute power by politicians.
“I … urge you always to remember that you have a right and a potential duty to rebel,” he said.
“I urge this right and duty because together we have an obligation to defend democracy and the interests of the people.
“Together we have the task to ensure that we construct economies that ensure a better life for the millions of Africans who must be the subject of all the policies that our institutions of government formulate and implement.”
Mbeki pressed bankers to “remain focused on fighting poverty and underdevelopment on our continent. We must provide a better life for ordinary people, especially the poor.” – AFP