20 Mar 2024

Bank of Botswana(BoB) will in April 28, 2024 commence benchmarking mission to Bahamans on digital currency transformation, says the Governor, Mr Cornelius Dekop.

Speaking during the tour of BoB by the visiting Bahamian delegation, Mr Dekop said the benchmarking mission was important given that Bahamas had a good reputation with the use of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) launched in October 2020.

Mr Dekop said possible areas of collaborations between the two central banks would be in the areas of communication infrastructure as well as formulation of enabling laws required to provide legal certainty for the digital currency.

He said other areas of interest would be of the commercial banks especially adaptation  of their  platforms business models, together with  operational resilience to mitigate  against  cybercrime and ensure  full  compliance with Financial  Action Task Force (FATAF)  and anti-money  laundering.

He added that the primary mission of BoB was to achieve and maintain price stability, thus the bank remained steadfast in contributing to the stability of the financial system and foster in maintaining a stable, sound and competitive market based financial system.

“We have liquid stable and robust banking and financial system in Botswana which also acts as government advisor in policy and economic development,” he said. He said the  function  of the  bank  in accordance  with  discharging its mandate was espoused under Bank of Botswana  Act  and included formulation and implementation  of monitory  policy in pursuit  of price stability.

The effective discharge of the bank’s functions, Mr Dekop said, had overtime contributed to social and economic progress in many ways, citing maintenance of the low and stable inflation which protects the value and integrity of the local currency. 

Mr Phillip Davis the prime minister of The Bahamas, said the use of CBDC could reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing through a more transparent digital financial system and expand access to individuals and communities with limited or no access to traditional banking services. 

The promotion of financial inclusion and digital banking, Mr Davis said, leveraged the power of technology to open potential doors to sustainability. 

He said inspired by Bahamas’ pioneering launch of the Sand dollar which is the digital version of Bahamian dollar issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, the  facets of the blueprint could envision a future in digital banking platforms and extend financial services to every corner  of  the  world.

Key to that blueprint, he said, was to invest in human capital which underscores the belief that the world greatest asserts is its people. He said joint education initiatives and training programs would equip banking professionals  with  cutting edge skills needed  to ensure that the finance sector remains a key component in economic growth and transformation. ENDS