the small - scale entrepreneur and the rural operators. “ furthermore, the range of financial institutions and instruments is narrow. public ownership of financial institutions is pervasive. institutions are plagued by a large proportion of non - performing loans in their portfolios. management lacks the relevant management skills. financial market depth and breadth is still very limited. ” reforms in these developing countries have focused on improving the legal, regulatory, supervisory and judiciary environment, reducing financial repression, restoring bank soundness, rehabilitating financial infrastructure, and have included programmes designed to downsize publicly - owned banks, privatising them where possible and encouraging new entrants. thirdly, reference can be made to financial sector reforms in the emerging economies of the world. in these countries some stage of advancement has already been reached in the development of financial systems. however, new demands are now being made in light of a new global financial environment, characterised by a liberalisation of financial markets, an integration of major global markets and an exposure of individual countries to relatively large international capital movements. in these countries, exchange controls have been or are being removed, multinational financial institutions, including banks, are granted unrestricted entry, and international rules for financial regulation and supervision are being introduced that must be complied with to the satisfaction of international investors. domestic monetary policy objectives must be brought to terms with the requirements of international market operators, and governments must accept some eroding of their sovereign autonomy for the management of the national economy. 2. financial sector reforms in south africa south africa is part of the latter group of countries. together with the major social and political reforms of the past few years, we also had to contend with some important restructuring of the financial system. firstly, the south african financial sector, not unlike other countries on the african continent, had to adapt to the changes in the socio - political environment. provision was made in the banking legislation for the existence and continuation of numerous informal savings clubs ( “ stokvels ” ) operating outside the normal constraints of bank regulation and supervision, but also then, of course, without access to central bank accommodation at the discount window. new legislation to provide for communal ownership of a banking institution was introduced in the form of the mutual banks act. south african banking institutions also adopted their own internal policies to provide for greater participation in the social upliftment programmes of the country. secondly, bank regulation and supervision underwent major changes over the past ten years to apply the world - wide supported directives of

, the number of pupils enrolling in primary schools has been on an upward slope. south africa ’ s life expectancy at birth has also increased from 58 years in 1982 to 65 years in 1997. infant mortality has dropped from 6, 3 per cent in 1982 to 4, 8 per cent in 1997. but south africa, and indeed africa, needs to boost its savings rates. africa ’ s savings amounted to 27, 1 percent of gdp during 1975 to 1984, but for the 1990s the world bank ’ s 2000 report estimates the level at 17, 6 percent. south africa ’ s savings amounted to 15 percent of gdp last year. you, as an organisation pride yourself on teaching your members the values of thrift and prudence. i would ask you to go one step further. as you educate your members about the importance of savings, without which the economy cannot reach prolonged high growth rates, educate them to be educators for the wider community. we have a dearth of economic literacy on this continent and we need resourceful people like yourselves to become well - versed in basic economic principles and make this knowledge available to the communities you serve. 4. the pre - requisites for the success of the african renaissance so, where do we go from here? i have already mentioned some of the challenges we face. these are surmountable. however, there are certain pre - requisites we, as a continent and a country, should aim to achieve before we can claim any success along the road of the african renaissance and its broader goals. after meeting with sub - saharan african leaders earlier this year, horst kohler, the international monetary fund ’ s managing director, mentioned that the prospects for rapid growth, which he argued was indispensable for reducing poverty, will and i quote : " depend on the ability of those countries to unlock the creative energies of their people. african leaders, " he said, " know that there is no alternative to integration into the global economy. this approach requires investment in human capital and infrastructure as well as the right economic policies and institutions. it requires, especially, an economic climate that encourages private sector investment. " the collective efforts brought together for the fulfilment of the millennium african renaissance programme should unlock the creative energies of the african people, it should give africa ’ s leadership a new focus and it should encourage unwavering efforts to eradicate poverty, and bring about democracy and good governance. i suspect that sustainable development rests on a complex