njuguna ndung ’ u : implications of capital flight for macroeconomic management and growth in sub - saharan africa keynote address by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the senior policy seminar on implications of capital flight and macroeconomic management and growth in sub - saharan africa, south african reserve bank, pretoria, 30 october 2007. * * * honorable governors and colleagues, honorable ministers, honorable ambassadors and excellencies, representatives of external partners and institutions, ladies and gentlemen, i would first like to thank the south african reserve bank, and particularly, my colleague honorable tito mboweni, for hosting this important and timely event on the “ implications of capital flight for macroeconomic management and growth in sub - saharan africa ”. i would also like to thank all my colleagues, and senior officials who have responded positively and are here to participate in the deliberations and contribute to the success of this important event, which has tremendous potential for investment, economic growth and more generally for the development of our continent. africa is often labeled as the capital - scarce region of the world ; one that has been marginalized in the landscape of global capital flows. the latest statistics published by the world bank flagship report “ global development finance ” suggest that the region received less than 4 percent of net foreign direct investment ( fdi ) flows to developing countries in 2006. interestingly the totality of these fdi inflows went to 5 countries ( angola, equatorial guinea, nigeria, south africa, and sudan ), all of which are oil and mineral - rich. so these fdis went to extraction sectors. the region is also lagging on the remittances, receiving just 4 percent of total remittances to developing countries – by far the smallest share. the average in other regions is in excess of 25 percent. as a result of chronic shortage of capital, investment prospects have been delayed, leaving the majority of countries in the region undiversified, commodity - dependent, and highly vulnerable to terms of trade and exogenous shocks. over the years, most of these countries have been confronted with chronic balance of payments crises, and relied on external debt to bridge their ever growing financing gap. however, the accumulation of external liabilities over time took africa ’ s external debt to unsustainable levels, when it reached the critical threshold of us $ 230 billion, about 45 % of gdp in the 1990s. and as external debt

patrick njoroge : central bank of kenya 50th anniversary celebrations speech by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the central bank of kenya 50th anniversary celebrations, nairobi, 14 september 2016. * * * i am greatly honoured to welcome you this morning to celebrate 50 years of the central bank of kenya ’ s existence. i am grateful to all guests for honouring our invitation and joining us to celebrate this milestone. i am particularly grateful to your excellency, for graciously accepting to attend this important event despite your extremely busy schedule. i want to pay special tribute to fellow governors and deputy governors from the region, and especially my colleagues from the eac, who have been with us over the last two days, and over the last 50 years. these celebrations accord us an excellent occasion to reflect on the achievements of the central bank, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. the history of the central bank is very much intertwined with the history of the country, and most of us here today are a part of that history. it is a rich history, and like any other, it is marked by peaks and troughs, shadows and lights, but it is a history that we are proud of. soon after its establishment, the new central bank had to deal with an economic slowdown in the early 70s and the effects of the oil crisis, which put increased pressure on domestic prices and the balance of payments. kenya ’ s respite came in the form of a “ coffee boom, ” following a devastating frost in brazil and the resulting increase in coffee prices. the 1980s witnessed an increase in the number of indigenous kenyans investing in the banking sector. but inadequate capacity, weak internal controls and poor funds management led to market indiscipline. the result was significant distress in the banking sector, with the attendant ramifications on the kenyan population, problems that persisted into the early part of the 90s. highly accommodative policies in the early 90s also lead to runaway inflation, forcing the central bank to undertake massive liquidity mop - up operations to reign - in inflation and restore confidence in the financial system. nevertheless, these challenges presented opportunities for legislative and institutional reforms to improve the effectiveness of the central bank. to this end, a number of reforms were effected, including amending the central bank act to enable the central bank exercise greater operational autonomy in the conduct of monetary policy, while maintaining price stability as one of its primary