it cannot be right for an important continental body to be so reliant on foreign funding. a stronger african union can play a driving role in supporting the development of infrastructure that is essential for enhanced economic growth and development across the continent. the process of establishing regional economic communities is proceeding slowly and unevenly. east africa and west africa have probably made more progress than we have made in southern africa. there remain significant obstacles to greater regional integration, especially in southern africa. these obstacles include hard issues such as infrastructure constraints, energy shortages and different rail systems as well as softer issues such as high tariffs, significant non - tariff barriers and numerous challenges at border crossings. many of southern africa ’ s problems are less intractable when taking a regional perspective. water, food and energy security, as well as adapting to climate change, are all problems that require regional solutions. southern africa has significant hydroelectric potential that can only be tapped in an economically viable manner if we have regional supply networks. while south africa and several of its neighbours are water scarce and hence cannot and perhaps should not be growing certain crops, many other countries have the water resources to grow a broader range of foods and fruits and become the breadbasket for the region and beyond. it is also natural that, as countries develop, certain industries become less sustainable for higher cost producers. given the different levels of development and per capita incomes in sub - saharan africa, a win - win solution could be to develop parts of the supply chain in neighbouring countries to take advantage of lower costs. the challenge with many of these ideas and options is high transportation costs and inefficient and unreliable freight logistics systems. bis central bankers ’ speeches the south african reserve bank is making a contribution towards regional integration in the payments area by leading a pilot project for a real time electronic settlement system, which was launched in the common monetary area ( cma ) in july this year. preparations are now under way to expand it beyond the cma into other sadc countries. payments systems are a key piece of the infrastructure required to facilitate trade and investment. globalisation can be a force for good. greater economic integration has the potential to lift millions more out of poverty. to achieve these outcomes we all need to do more to make the world economy safer, less crisis prone and fairer and take the necessary steps to enhance the framework that govern our myriad linkages and interactions. we also need to focus more on building credible global institutions that help to deliver global public goods. in the realm

gill marcus : globalisation can be a force for good address by ms gill marcus, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the dinner in honour of ambassadors and high commissioners to the republic of south africa, pretoria, 1 october 2013. * * * your exellencies, ambassadors, high commissioners, counsels and diplomats, good evening. thank you for accepting our invitation to join the south african reserve bank this evening. if there was ever any doubt that we live in a highly integrated world, financial markets have a tendency to remind us on a daily basis of the inter - linkages between our countries. fed chairman ben bernanke issues a statement on monetary policy developments in the us and financial markets around the world react. european car sales fall and platinum miners in south africa feel the effects. coffee drinking in china increases and farmers in ethiopia earn more. our world is probably more integrated today than at any point in human history. with the level of interdependence that the nations of the world have today, it is worth asking whether we have the appropriate relationships, institutions and rules for everyone to benefit from global integration, and whether we have the institutional mechanisms to protect the poor and vulnerable in such an integrated world. globalisation has increased opportunities for all countries to become richer. markets for goods and services have grown. countries are not just able to exploit their present comparative advantages but are also able to use technology and innovation to change their comparative advantages, to move up the value chain, thereby raising incomes and living standards of the poor. the global financial system has also adapted to a world unimaginable a few decades ago. capital is able to flow from savers to borrowers, seeking opportunities in every corner of the planet. the net effect of greater global integration is that about a billion people have been lifted out of poverty in the past twenty years, with over half of these in china. ladies and gentlemen, globalisation has also increased risks and vulnerabilities for all countries, in particular for poor countries and the poor and low - skilled workers within countries. a housing loan crisis in the us eventually translates into rocketing youth unemployment in spain. a banking crisis in cyprus sends shares on the world ’ s stock exchanges lower. curbs on the importation of gold in india impact on the earnings of ghanaian and south african gold miners. and so, while globalisation and its tools – supply chains, technology and finance – has made a major positive contribution to development, these same