Africa
Sabine Mauderer on the past, present and future of the NGFS
Bundesbank official discusses green policy, the Fed, data blind spots and future prospects
Non-executive directors earn five times less than governors
NEDs work an average of 14 hours weekly, Governance Benchmarks 2026 find
Boards with salary-setting duties have largest membership
Greatest number of non-execs appointed by government
Roughly 40% of central banks lack a monetary policy committee
Governing boards remain widely responsible for setting overall strategy
Governors of smaller central banks earn slightly below global average
But governors’ salaries remain above $200,000 a year
CBN governor calls on EBRD to act locally in Nigeria
Cardoso points to alignment of interests between private sector and country’s subnational authorities
European governors serve longest average term length
Central bank governors rarely appointed for one term or 3+ terms
One-fifth of central banks say governing laws are inappropriate
Government still sets salaries at one-tenth of jurisdictions
One in five smaller central banks lacks fining powers
Respondents still widely manage FX reserves and act as lender of last resort
Central Bank of West African States eases policy by 25bp
BCEAO says negative inflation prompted decision, but expects prices to rise in 2026
Zambia publishes list of banks with deposit protection
Disclosure by central bank follows establishment of long-delayed insurance scheme last October
Less than half of central banks engaged in tokenisation work
Respondents widely consider bonds for tokenisation, among other asset class
Central banks divided over stablecoin impact on US debt demand
Respondents offer different views on adoption paths and market dynamics
Two-thirds of central banks predict CBDC adoption in 5–10 years
Stablecoin launches seen as more likely by authorities without CBDC mandate
Most circulating stablecoins pegged to the greenback
Jurisdictions with stablecoins in use are largely high and upper-middle income countries
Financial stability seen as top risk from private digital money
Concerns differ somewhat by region
Majority of CBDCs designed to be domestic only
But a fifth of central banks are working on multi-currency CBDCs
Central banks report 28 operational bitcoin ATMs on average
Jurisdictions with larger institutions have the most machines
CBDCs politicised in one in five jurisdictions
Public and private sectors mostly concerned about privacy of digital currencies
Fintech licences issued yearly remain below 10 on average
Number of fintechs in operation averages just over 60
Central banks keep trialling link between wCBDC and RTGS
Most respondents motivated to issue wCBDC to enable financial innovation