This study discusses the case of modernising the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) regional payments system facilitated by the
SADC Payment System Project. The long-term objective is to have
harmonised cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems to facilitate the
economic activity such as supporting the flow of trade within the SADC region.
The SADC Payment System Project purports to have adopted a strategic
management process to achieve its mandate. The modernisation process is in
line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). The
aim of the RISDP is to provide strategic direction with respect to various
SADC programmes and activities and to align the strategic objectives and
priorities of SADC with the policies and strategies for achieving its long-term
goals.
The concept of payment, clearing and settlement system is explained to
provide the context within which the national payment system fits in the
economic system and its role towards economic development.
The first objective of the study is to discuss the strategic management
process. The objective of the discussion is to reflect how the strategic
management theoretical constructs were translated into practice.
The second objective of the study is to explore the environmental and country
internal factors that are likely to impact on and delay the fully harmonised
regional cross-border and inter-bank settlement systems.
Although not exhaustive, the identified factors include;
- The structural arrangements of country- specific teams that support the
modernisation initiatives,
- The availability of skills and capacity to harness the implemented
systems within each member country in the SADC region.
iii
- The influence of foreign fund donors, as a result of a possible
duplication of efforts,
- The repair state of power supply and communication networks,
- The supporting legal and regulatory regimes,
- The forms of economic systems,
- The influence and the extent of trade flows with the SADC region, and
- The resilience banking networks in the facilitation of financial
information flows within each member country and externally
(internationally).
The target population of central bank officials who also take an active role in
the modernisation of SADC regional payments systems were requested to
provide feedback on the prepared questionnaire to address the above factors.
The responses provided are summarised in Chapter 5. It was clear from the
responses that the identified factors appeared to pose little challenge for
respective member countries. However, additional comments by respondents
indicated that there is still a lot of groundwork to be covered. There was an
evidence of the need for on-going training in payment systems and to improve
communication networks and power supply within each member country,
especially on the remote country areas/rural areas. Some members also
hinted a warning on developing systems, which would have a potential to
become white elephants if other sectors are not developed in parallel to the
regional payment systems. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/139 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Ziqubu, A.B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Research Report |
| Format | 1 online resource (v, 125 p.) |
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