plan. in support of this plan, central banks within the region working in collaboration with the banking community launched a payment system integration project that culminated in the implementation of the sadc integrated regional electronic settlement system ( siress ). according to the latest data, the implementation of the siress system has resulted in 43 per cent of eligible intra - sadc cross - border south african rand payments for the participating nine countries being settled through accounts that regional banks hold on the siress system, instead of via the normal cross - border correspondent banking system. at this relatively ‘ early ’ stage of siress ( implemented july 2013 ), the high percentage of crossborder transactions being settled via the siress system in real time is significant, and it could in future have an even more significant impact on correspondent banking activity within the sadc region. i take great pride in being able to share with you that siress has reached the zar 1 trillion settlement mark in the last week of april 2015. we also recognise that the emergence of regional solutions such as siress, requires regional authorities to resolve possible concerns that may arise from regulatory requirements within their business process flows to ensure that matters such as aml / cft and exchange controls, where they exist, are taken care of. it is my hope that the development of these initiatives will lay a solid foundation for facilitating trade and investment in africa. leveraging of current infrastructure, efficient securities market solutions and future infrastructure solutions may contribute to facilitating the ease of investment in the continent. the regional initiatives are also paving the way for the achievement of the integration agenda of the whole continent and i hope that in undertaking the separate regional initiatives, open standards are adopted to facilitate the ultimate integration of these regional infrastructures. what africa needs is to get the various regional systems to interact with each other so that settlement can take place seamlessly across the region. i also note that with the aim of leveraging the hands - on experience with projects in africa, one session in this conference will look at the rapid growth of the regional payment systems and how lessons learnt from these projects could be replicated in other regions. the regulatory session should explore how, taking a proactive stance in coping with new financial regulations, moving quickly to adopt global best practice in the various fields of compliance and addressing of issues relating to regulatory capital requirements can lead to competitive advantages. it is also with interest that i gather that for the first time, the 2015 arc will host an african round of the swift innotri

lesetja kganyago : africa is rising – seizing the opportunity address by mr lesetja kganyago, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the swift regional conference, cape town, 5 may 2015. * * * chairperson, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen ; it is an honour for me to welcome you all to cape town, south africa on this occasion of the swift regional conference. “ africa is rising – seizing the opportunity ” this is the theme for this year ’ s conference. i think that you will agree that this theme is appropriate, as africa is blessed with abundant resources and although we face several challenges, these are far outweighed by the many opportunities that the continent offers. we acknowledge that taking advantage of these opportunities require strong political will and pan - african cooperation, however, the numerous regional integration initiatives taking place all over the continent are testimony that this is indeed possible. this is the 22nd swift african regional conference ( arc ) and the delegates include policy makers, industry leaders and the broader financial community from across the african continent. the typical african regional conference attracts up to 500 delegates from around 40 countries, and is a unique forum for networking, education, discussion, and debate – all within a collaborative environment. i believe that discussions in the next three day will focus, inter alia, on how intra - africa trade and economic growth can be boosted, a look at how the african securities markets are evolving and the growth plans of african corporates as they expand across the continent. the conference will also focus on leveraging the role of technology innovations in africa to benefit the financial industry and support sustainable growth objectives of the continent. from the payment system environment, we are aware that intra - africa payments have in the past mostly been facilitated through correspondent banking arrangements, as has been the standard for cross border payments globally. in practice, intra - africa payments are effected through correspondent banking relationships with banking partners normally located within the usa or in europe. most of these correspondent banking arrangements are still used extensively today, but are proving to be inadequate and inefficient. across the continent, several regions have launched initiatives to facilitate more efficient transacting mechanisms within their respective regions. the advantage of these initiatives is that transacting parties now have more control over their payments, within the region. concerns have been raised about the general reduction in correspondent banking relationships, and related financial services globally. the drivers of the reduction in correspondent banking relationships are not clear, but we sur