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Governor Harvesh Seegolam Urged The Central Bank Governors For More Collaborative To Foster More Prosperity In The Region

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The two-day conference on Digital Economy & Digital Banking’ officially launched by the Honourable, Prime Minister, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on Monday morning, continued Tuesday. The second day kickstarted with a dedicated presentation by Dr. Navin Beekarry, Director General of the ICAC on digitalization and challenges of the AML/CFT. The Director General highlighted the risks and benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and blockchain technology. He also addressed the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk associated with Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) and Virtual Assets. In this perspective, Dr. Beekarry underlined the importance of effective screening, KYC and customer profiling for onboarding of clients. He also focused on ongoing monitoring of clients through risk-based assessment and alerts on change of circumstances as well as the importance of transaction monitoring.

The session was followed by a special panel discussion on the Future of Banking which was moderated by Mr. Kevin Njiraini, Regional Director of IFC and comprised the following panellist’s namely, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank, Nigeria, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, Governor of Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) & Mr. Bouazza Abderrrahim, Deputy Governor of Bank Al-Mag Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank, Nigeria enumerated the major milestones in the digital transformation of the Nigerian banking sector with a view to unlock the potential of the banking sector. Moreover, he highlighted the series of initiatives such as the cashless policy, importance of improving the infrastructure, bank verification number, and enhancing and improve services and penetration to further consolidate the banking and financial services sector. In his intervention, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, Governor of Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) underlined the need for a collaborative strategy and partnerships with key stakeholders with a view to enhance the infrastructure and facilitate digital transformation process. Moreover, he underlined the importance of financial stability and the ecosystem to allow for protection of depositors. Mr. Bouazza Abderrrahim, Deputy Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib highlighted that bank should adapt and partner with fintech companies. Moreover, he underscored the necessity for training the market.

Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Mathias Cormann, and Dr. Renganaden Padayachy
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Mathias Cormann, and Dr. Renganaden Padayachy

In his concluding remarks, the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, Mr. Harvesh Seegolam urged the central bank governors and regulators to embrace a more collaborative and knowledge sharing view a view to foster more prosperity in the region.

He underlined that during these challenging times, it is instrumental for regulators and central banks to demonstrate more agility and flexibility in their approach. The Governor also emphasized the importance for central banks and regulators to provide clear cut guidance to all regulates as well as work together to address the challenges and hurdles. He stated that the role of central banks is to create an enabling framework and set up the right parameters and fundamentals for fostering digitalization in banking. Moreover, he underlined that the key strategic area to focus pertains to the risk associated with cyber attacks and in this regard, the Bank of Mauritius has launched four consultations on the use of risk management with a view to ensure the most appropriate framework is implemented to safeguard the banking system and tackle risks. He enumerated the series of initiatives undertaken by BOM such as the issue of a full-fledged guideline on the use of cloud services, the introduction of a dedicated license to allow digital banks to operate in Mauritius and a clear process for digital onboarding of banks. Furthermore, the Governor added that virtual assets represent a major potential and given the volatility of such asset classes, it is the onus of central banks to provide the relevant guidance. He concluded his address by underlining that the digital shift in banking is sine qua non for the African continent.

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