Africa
Systemic banks prioritised in onsite inspections
Supervisors’ activities commonly include interviews, reviews and verifications
Onsite inspection frequency tailored to individual firms’ risk profiles
All authorities in high and middle income countries engage in risk-based exercises
Pillar 2 supervisory requirements broadly decided at national level
Only 15% of authorities operate regional supervision offices
Supervisors rate resource sufficiency higher than staffing
Annual salary of supervision officials averages just over $40,000
Most supervisors have mandate to oversee non-banks
Supervision department staff average just over 150 individuals
Kenya to extend RTGS system’s daily operating hours
Central bank says Kepps system will move from seven hours a day to 12 from July 1
Central banks favour instant payments over CBDCs
Interoperability of systems and financial inclusion drive decisions among survey respondents
Near-24/7 RTGS systems more susceptible to outages
Central banks with longest uptime also report highest number of contingency sites
Most RTGS systems projected for upgrade within a year
Two in three RTGSs operating 13–16 hours daily to be upgraded within a year
Budget and RTGS operating expenses rise year on year
Share of central banks charging both fixed and varied fees for RTGS access grows
Most central banks operate RTGS seven to 12 hours daily
Respondents processed over $6 trillion via system in 2024
Number of non-banks with RTGS access rises year on year
Middle income central banks account for largest number of connections
Half of retail payment sectors saw diversification last year
Changes include regulations, technology and rate of participation
Two-fifths of central banks leave payment fees unregulated
Middle income institutions more likely to regulate prices than other respondents
Weaponisation of reserves likely to spur de-dollarisation – survey
Freezing of Russian assets will have “significant consequences”, reserves managers say
Larger teams more likely to oversee payments networks
Most central banks have general mandate to safeguard all payment systems
Quarter of payments departments report resourcing issues
Average number of FTE employees increases year on year to 40
Trends in reserve management 2025: survey results
Insights on strategies in anticipation of tariffs, interest rate divergence and geopolitical risk, FX diversification and de-dollarisation, as well as bitcoin in reserves, FX interventions and gold
Egypt eases policy by 100bp
Central bank cuts benchmark rate to 24% and expects to meet inflation target in Q4 2026
Sarb official warns of risk in RSA sovereign bond holdings
Banks must consider interest rate risk when buying South African government debt, head of stability says
EBRD outlook turns gloomy after US tariffs
“Not a very happy picture” for world economy, says institution’s chief economist
East Africa governors discuss delayed single currency launch
Leaders adopt “masterplan” to modernise and integrate payments systems
Over half of central banks employ strategic progress monitoring tools
Just a quarter of jurisdictions evaluate success with external means
Central banks rate strategic plan visibility and authority highest
Resourcing tends to be somewhat more challenging across jurisdictions