Benguela - The deputy governor of the Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA), Domingos Pedro, on Thursday called for greater cooperation among the member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to establish a regulatory and supervisory framework that ensures common financial stability.

The BNA official made the statement at the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Banking Supervision and Financial Stability of the SADC Central Banks, held in Benguela, to assess the implementation of strategic actions for the period 2023-2026, with a focus on regional financial stability.

 Domingos Pedro said that cooperation among SADC member states in terms of regulation and supervision ensures regional financial stability in a context characterized by the globalization of the financial ecosystem.

He also stressed the need to comply with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Preventing and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.

Safeguarding financial stability requires greater cooperation among countries, including in the development of sound and effective rules and institutions that maintain confidence and support financial integration and regional economic growth," Pedro said.

He added that central banks have a fundamental role to play in ensuring that regulatory and supervisory standards are harmonized for a successful transition towards the goal of regional integration, while maintaining the soundness and stability of the financial system in the SADC region.

The Strategic Focus Areas (SFA) agenda, which is the strategic plan for this sub-committee, sets as objectives the preparation of a regional stability report, the development and operationalization of a regional crisis management resolution framework, and the oversight of digital services and cybersecurity and climate risk issues," he said.

For three days, SADC central bank governors, including experts from the Bank of England, will discuss issues such as the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In addition to Angola, which joined the FATF gray list in October 2024, the SADC region includes South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Tanzania.

The meeting will also analyze the basic principles of effective banking supervision, the framework for cross-border crisis resolution and management, macro-prudential policies, harmonization of banking regulation and supervision tools, provision of information on credit liability and development of banking regulation and supervision technologies. JH/TC/ASS/DAN/AMP