market. for obvious reasons, this move is not only uplifting to the technological advancement and capability of the matero community through the provision of modern banking services like the autobank, but also goes a long way in assisting the bank of zambia, as a monetary authority, to have a firm control over the implementation of monetary policy. you would agree with me that it is quite difficult for a central bank, like ours, to implement monetary policy effectively in an environment characterised by inadequate banking facilities. it is for this reason therefore that i commend the management of stanbic bank zambia for bringing banking facilities closer to the people. in this regard, i wish to assure you that on our part we shall continue to support you in your endeavours to open more of such branches, because we firmly believe that you are making our work and that of the government much easier. however, may i take this opportunity to advise the management of stanbic zambia that if you want this branch or many of such branches you intend to open in future to be beneficial to the communities in which they operate, kindly be flexible on the requirements for opening accounts as well as lowering the minimum account balances to be maintained by your clients. i say so because communities like matero and the surrounding areas comprise mainly of people who are in the informal sector. therefore, it would be unreasonable for you to ask an unemployed prospective customer to bring a letter from their employer before an account could be opened with your branch! in other words, i strongly urge you to tailor your banking services to the needs of the community you operate in. finally, let me also take this opportunity to urge the other commercial banks operating in zambia to emulate stanbic bank zambia by establishing community banking branches. as your regulator and supervisor, we take a lot of pride in seeing commercial banks coming up with innovative and progressive financial services, such as community banking. i believe that it is through the provision of such tailor - made banking services that banks would meaningfully fulfil their role as financial intermediaries in our economy. with these few remarks, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honour and privilege to declare the stanbic bank matero branch officially open. i thank you.

gentlemen, it is very clear that small - scale cross - border trade plays a very vital role in our economies, particularly in generating income, creating employment and alleviating poverty. however, ladies and gentlemen, the small - scale cross - border trade faces a lot of barriers and impediments, including lack of access to financial and payment services such as currency exchange and transmission facilities. traders from both sides of the border are forced to carry cash and must first convert funds into united states dollars from their respective countries and then into the domestic currency of the country they are purchasing goods or services from. by so doing, cross - border traders face many risks including theft, exchange losses and other conversion costs. ladies and gentlemen, although there have been some bilateral efforts towards formalising and facilitating small - scale cross - border trade in southern africa, these have not been bis central bankers ’ speeches enough. for instance, zimbabwe signed a memorandum of understanding with malawi to facilitate informal trade, especially between small and medium - sized enterprises. mozambique and zambia also signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the repatriation of currencies of the two countries that are accumulated by traders located along the common border areas. it is expected that this memorandum of understanding will be expanded to include malawi. the lack of financial and payment services has not only hindered small - scale cross border trade but also led to the establishment and entrenchment of parallel currency markets at the borders. needless to say, these are associated with vices such as counterfeiting, facilitating illegal trade, as well as enhancing cross - border money laundering activities. moreover, to us monetary authorities, illegal cross - border local currency circulation creates the potential for complicating the conduct of monetary policy, especially if a significant amount of a country ’ s domestic currency is being used outside its jurisdiction. the volumes of goods and services traded and amount of currency handled by individual traders may seem small. however, they are collectively significant and have implications for the conduct of monetary policy. for instance, the world bank estimates small - scale border trade in southern africa to be around $ 17. 6 billion. other studies have estimated that small - scale cross - border trading accounts for about 42 % of gdp in sub - saharan africa. ladies and gentlemen, it is for this reason that this roundtable symposium has been convened with the following objectives : 1. to stimulate broader interest in the topic of small scale cross border trade ; 2. to initiate an inquiry into the