African Central Bank Governors, meeting here Thursday under a G20-backed financial regulatory board, have resolved to enhance the role of financial regulators and strictly monitor the micro-financial sector.
South Africa’s Central Bank Deputy Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Kenyan Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung’u, who co-Chaired the meeting, said they discussed the tightening of the regulations to ensure that finance ministries support to the sector does not cause jitters.
According to a statement from the Central Bank of Kenya late Thursday, apex bank Governors from Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya,Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania and Finance Ministers drawn from around Africa met as part of an African group of the Financial Stability Board, formed by the G20 in 2009.
The Board was formed to deal with the global financial crisis and incorporated non-members of the G20, to help prevent the contagious effects of the global financial crisis and the European credit crunch.
During the meeting, the Governors and Ministers discussed in detail the effects of the European debt crisis on Africa.
They agreed to set specific targets on capital flows, rapid credit growth, especially to the growth sectors of the economy, including the manufacturing sector and the risks posed by getting exposed to newer economic powers, including China, India and Brazil.
“Drawing upon lessons from the global financial crisis, members considered the importance of macro-prudential policy frameworks as a complement to traditional micro-prudential supervision,” the statement added.
