institutions, responsible for the processing of all financial market transactions, including a crucial role in the control of risk. professionals constantly have to re - tool, re - equip and fully update themselves to meet the exigencies of the marketplace. with so much of innovation and technological progress taking place in the world of finance, there is no place for players having limited skills and knowledge in treasury management. the market punishes those who lag behind. one of the challenges in treasury management is to keep abreast of latest techniques and trends in the marketplace and make the most out of them. the biggest challenge for most of our market participants remains the interpretation of economic indicators, changes in policy signals and predicting the course of economic events that affect financial markets. it ’ s tantamount to becoming good crystal ball readers in the money and foreign exchange markets. treasury management is also the management of risks. with the globalization of financial markets, financial institutions around the world are exposed to a multiplicity of risks. movements in the rates of interests and volatility of exchange rates in an increasingly complex environment have made the process of managing risks a critical aspect of treasury management. may i however state that my recent experience in the domestic financial market tends to suggest that our treasury managers seem to be acquiring expertise in predicting changes in the interest rate policy stance of the bank of mauritius. but a very limited number of treasury managers seem to be able to foresee at times movements in exchange rates. this is quite understandable ; it is not in the realm of mortals like us to accurately predict exchange rate movements. credit risks, market risks, exchange risks, payment and settlement risks and so on and so forth are all risks that textbooks teach us how to mathematically measure. textbooks also teach us the various ways and means of protecting against risks. operational risk however is a type of risk that no financial institution has ever been able to guard itself against. no financial institution or any other enterprises, in particular treasury management units in any of these organizations, should ever dare to overlook operational risks. it is worth stating that many of the lessons learned from those headlines cases cited violations of the fundamental tenets of internal control, particularly those pertaining to operational risks. lately we have observed that some institutions have been reviewing their treasury operations. the bank of mauritius views these undertakings as positive moves towards improving efficiency in management. in any treasury management unit it is essential to have a modularly flexible treasury system, which can adapt to the conditions of a

accepted test of quality in banking policy, it will, i am sure, provide a more solid foundation for promoting sustainable, equitable, and inclusive growth in the region. now let me take this opportunity to warmly welcome experts from the african development bank, the bank for international settlements, the imf and standard bank. your contribution to our proceedings is eagerly awaited. you have done so much over the years, as our major advisers and development partners, to help us steer our countries from the darker days of the past, into the fresh light of a future rich with promise. for africa is now emerging as the up - and - coming global centre of attention, a continent on the cusp of a major breakthrough. i have no doubt you can enrich our discussions on the general aspects of financial inclusion, as well as on the more technical issues of monetary policy and financial stability and their relevance to inclusiveness. bis central bankers ’ speeches the general manager of the bank for international settlements, jaime caruana, will give a special address on the basle process and the global aspects of financial inclusion. he is very committed to the financial inclusion agenda of the g - 20 which has been germinating since 2008, in the wake of the global crisis. we thank him for his interest in the work of the aacb. we take this opportunity to also thank him for hosting at his headquarters in basel an annual round table for the benefit of african governors, with selected peers from elsewhere. this new development agenda pulls together the policy objectives of financial stability, financial inclusion and consumer protection, to overcome the clear shortcomings of the traditional framework of financial liberalisation. jaime caruana will no doubt brief us on the work of the two subcommittees of the g - 20 on smes and on consumer access through innovation. commissioner maruping will share with us the african union ’ s perspective on our work. tomorrow at the assembly of governors, we will have the president of the african development bank, donald kaberuka, who will talk to us about the africa 50 fund and how it can help to bridge the infrastructure gap now hampering faster growth and better quality of life on the continent. and the secretary general of the islamic financial services board, jaseem ahmed, will bring his inputs later into our discussions by sharing with us his views on islamic finance and financial inclusion. i must express my thanks to those organisations who have partnered with us to organise this event, and given us such fulsome support