The Director for Southern Africa of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) believes that the financial sector should be prioritised in the region, despite the many challenges that this industry faces.
“The financial sector in the southern African region faces challenges that include liquidity problems, over-indebtedness, limited access to financial services, high levels of informality and regulatory constraints,” said Eunice Kamwendo at a seminar on the financial sector in southern Africa, a region that includes Angola and Mozambique.
“Despite these challenges, it is important to prioritise the development of the financial sector in the region in order to create stability, mobilise domestic resources and boost a stable environment for investment,” added Kamwendo in her speech at the meeting, which brought together various experts and bankers in the session that is part of the Regional Dialogues on the African Financial Sector, organised by UNECA.
The aim of these meetings is to present detailed information on the financial sector in each of the countries in the five African regions, including the latest trends, progress, challenges and opportunities for deepening the financial sector.
The countries of the region, which includes South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy and one of the countries with the most developed financial sector, performed well in extending financial inclusion between 2011 and 2021, which can be partly attributed to the digitalisation of financial services, namely technological applications that guarantee mobile money, said the experts taking part in the meeting organised by UNECA and the West African Monetary Union.
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