t t mboweni : building africa ’ s future address by professor t t mboweni, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the 6th africa regional girl guides conference, cape town, 2 july 2001. * 1. * * introduction good morning premier, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen. i thank you for inviting me here today and i am honoured to be included on this occasion. some of your responsibilities as members of the world association of girl guides and girl scouts lie in preparing the young women of today for the positions of strength and leadership they will occupy in the future. these young women will be the ones we look towards for guidance and leadership in the coming period. we have a duty to lead them, instil in them solid values, ideals and morals, among these a respect for democratic authority and education, such as your organisation upholds. if we fail in this duty, we will be doing ourselves and future generations a great deal of disservice. it is vital that we instil a sense of discipline in the youth in our care. it is this sense of discipline which will mould them to grow up to be reliable, respected, and independent - minded adults. i commend you for the worthy tasks you have both set for yourselves and achieved. the youth you lead and nurture have a vital role to play in the future of this country and this continent. they are the leaders of the african renaissance. the future we envisage is very different to the reality of today but it is heavily influenced by it. i will give a brief overview of where we stand in africa and in south africa, particularly. and then i will discuss the possible path ahead of this continent and country and how the young people you have under your wing could make a valuable contribution. 2. the need for change your organisation is, as is this continent, in the throes of immense change. i was particularly struck by a statement contained in one of your pamphlets, and that is : " why change is necessary ". change is inevitable, we cannot stop it. what we can do, however, is to manage change so that it becomes an instrument for the better, not worse, of all our people. the girl guides south africa and the world association of girl guides and girls scouts are well - placed. as part of an international organisation you are in a prime position to reach beyond your national boundaries, to become citizens of the world and draw on your

not true. we had to be courageous in the crisis and make use of some exceptional, non - standard instruments. we have become more visible as a result of this, but not more political. so you ’ re not worried about the independence of the ecb? in us politics, efforts are being made to exert greater control over the federal reserve. some people don ’ t feel comfortable with what the central banks have done in the crisis. i sincerely hope, however, that the majority understands that central banks played a decisive role in preventing the global economy from falling into a deep depression. as regards our independence, history shows just how essential the independence of central banks is. but, in fact, isn ’ t this independence at risk if the ecb rises to become the biggest creditor of euro area states with qe? compared with our purchases, the federal reserve, the bank of japan and the bank of england have bought more sovereign bonds relative to the economic output of their respective countries. when we believe that an exit from the present policy is justified at some point in the future, we will take this step and there won ’ t be major problems. the ecb is calling for a “ quantum leap ” in terms of integration within europe and the euro area. but it seems that there is hardly any desire for this in politics and among the general public. should we always count on there being crises? the lesson from the crisis is quite clear, namely that we need more integration within the monetary union. but, of course, everyone sees that the political willingness to realise this is rather low right now. that is the result of the economic crisis, the high unemployment. this is destabilising social and political systems in europe. but i believe that the fundamental logic of the european project remains valid : in an increasingly interconnected world the countries of europe have joined forces so that they are better able to promote their interests. also, the european union is already now an historic achievement which brought decades of peace and which nobody should risk light heartedly. i trust that further steps will be taken towards greater integration. and what if that doesn ’ t happen? the alternative would be to call into question the whole edifice of europe – and that would harm the interests of everyone. we must certainly be on guard : from time to time history can go mad. bis central bankers ’ speeches does the refugee crisis also call into question “ the whole edifice ”? first, please allow me to say one