Staff report CAIRO, August 9, 2018 - The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Tarek Amer, took over the presidency of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) for 2018/2019 during its two-day 41st session, which ended in Sharm el-Sheikh, Thursday. Amer succeeds the Governor of South African Central Bank, Lesetja Kganyago, to be the first Egyptian to preside over the Senegal-headquartered AACB since its foundation in 1963. The AACB includes 40 African central banks, representing the countries of the African continent. Amer, who was serving before as the vice president of the AACB, will have the task of implementing the recommendations of the 41st meetings of the association, hosted by Egypt for the first time. He will also prepare for the 42nd session of the AACB, due to be held in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. The 41st session discussed boosting fiscal reforms and implementing economic restructuring programmes to achieve development in the entire African continent. During the session, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli explained Egypt's vision with regard to strengthening the continent's economies and monetary policies through boosting co-operation by the African central banks. The idea of setting up the AACB was first introduced on May 25, 1963, at the Summit Conference of African Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Association has an assembly of governors (the governing body comprising all African central banks governors), a Bureau (composed of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson of the association and chairpersons of sub-regional committees (composed of governors of central banks of the five sub-regions as defined by the African Union). The association is aimed at developing co-operation and boosting efforts to achieve financial and monetary stability in the whole of Africa and to promote the exchange of expertise by the central banks. The AACB is responsible for implementing the monetary co-operation programme of the African Union (AU), to boost and develop financial policies in Africa. Speaking at the final press conference of the AACB's 41st session Thursday, CBE Governor Amer said that the first unified African central bank would be established by 2043 with the issuance of a unified African currency. "The move needs to be backed by the political will of the African heads of state," Amer added. "The step also requires the African countries to achieve several indicators at the economic and financial levels, related to growth rates, inflation rates, foreign reserves and budget deficits," he said. Amer pointed out that collective action and co-operation was needed to face the challenges of a fast-paced world. "The African Continent has a great and bright future in the banking sector. The results achieved in the past years have been great especially in terms of growth rates, which have shown positive results according to the reports of all international institutions," Amer said.
