au commission that would conduct outreach, consult with a range of stakeholders, and put forward african positions at the g - 20. 6 saiia has provided some recommendations on how the capacity constraints on the continent could be addressed, which would entail, among others, the following : collecting information about relevant issues on the g - 20 agenda and preparing clear african positions in line with the continent ’ s overall development objectives, possibly also coordinating african delegations participating in g - 20 events, as was done at the time of the cannes summit in 2011 ; e nnadozie and c g makokera, development : ensuring greater african participation, policy briefing 117, economic diplomacy programme, november 2014. p fabricius, institute for security studies, africa should take advantage of the opportunities presented by its seat at the g - 20 table, 9 april 2015. page 3 of 10 supporting african representatives during the negotiating processes of the g20 in order to promote their greater involvement in agenda - setting and therefore greater influence on the final outcomes in areas of priority interest ; and continuously monitoring the implementation of key g - 20 commitments directly relevant to africa in order to ensure that their impact is assessed and to maintain pressure to achieve tangible results. however, while these recommendations are laudable, they require dedicated resources, which may be difficult to mobilise. i would now like to turn to the opportunities for africa under germany ’ s presidency of the g - 20. let me first note that we welcome germany ’ s focus on africa, which builds on efforts by the chinese presidency last year. we believe that this is a step in the right direction in both highlighting and confronting the challenges that the continent faces. as you know, the german federal ministry for economic cooperation and development released a document titled the marshall plan for africa two weeks ago, which proposes a partnership between europe and africa to find solutions to the challenges the continent confronts. the marshall plan for africa acknowledges that ‘ in the long term and as neighbours, we can either prosper together or suffer together ’. i will not say too much about the marshall plan for africa at this stage given that it still requires consultation. indeed, it has been met with great optimism in some quarters but also with scepticism in others. let me rather take this opportunity to focus on one of the components of the marshall plan for africa, namely the g - 20 compact with africa, an initiative in which south africa, through the g - 20, is more closely involved. the idea

of a compact with africa should be welcomed based on what it could achieve given its focus on encouraging private - sector investment, including in infrastructure. by so doing, it is hoped that employment will increase and that sustainable, inclusive growth and development on the continent can be fostered. as we know, the investment financing gap in africa is huge, and closing this gap is a top priority in order to put the continent page 4 of 10 on a path of higher and more sustainable growth and development. under this initiative, african countries are being encouraged to discuss and agree on individual compacts, and to match commitments from g - 20 countries with commitments of their own in respect of concrete actions to enhance investment opportunities, such as further enhancing governance standards and creating investor - friendly environments. the g - 20 is taking the initiative very seriously and we should expect it to gain momentum in the coming months and beyond. however, we also have to stress that the compact should take cognisance of existing initiatives by pan - african organisations such as the au and nepad, as much of the groundwork has already been laid and there is a need to ensure economies of scale by bringing all these initiatives together, fill the existing gaps, and drive implementation in such a way that there is concrete action and tangible results. it is therefore encouraging that both the marshall plan for africa and the compact acknowledge that the starting point will be the au ’ s agenda 2063 and its key pillars around industrialisation, infrastructure development, intra - african trade and combatting illicit flows. given that the compact is still in its infancy, that it will take some time for it to become entrenched and for there to be visible outcomes, it will be important that the compact does not end with the german presidency. we hope that the compact will be carried forward into argentina ’ s presidency in 2018 and beyond, into future g - 20 presidencies. we will therefore need to develop mechanisms for hold each other accountable for the commitments we make. 3. some observations on the t - 20 topics under discussion allow me to now make some comments on two issues that are in the domain of central banking but relate quite closely to some of the topics that you are discussing at this conference. i would like to focus on the issue of de - risking as it relates to correspondent banking and, secondly, on some developments in the digital economy. much of the work in the g - 20 has focussed on improving the resilience of the financial system. the