of global economic activity. just over a year ago trading officially commenced under the african continental free trade area. one factor that could greatly enhance the economic benefits of free trade in africa is cheaper and faster cross - border payment services within the continent and beyond. a lot of what we do daily involves crossing borders. from sending an email to someone abroad, to meeting with you virtually right now. it is time that our money also flows more easily across borders. there are four key barriers to cross - border payments – the cost, the speed, the transparency and the inclusion. to address these four barriers, the fsb has developed a roadmap to 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches enhance cross - border payments. we have done this together with our partners, most notably the committee on payments and market infrastructures. and this roadmap has been endorsed by g20 leaders, giving it strong political backing from the largest financial centres. this roadmap covers the whole payments market – both wholesale and retail payments. and it includes a particular focus on remittances, recognising that they are a critical source of financing for people in developing countries and that they play an important role in economic growth. the roadmap seeks to deliver the necessary improvements through five focus areas, with cooperation between all stakeholders – public or private, national or international – being essential. let me briefly walk you through the focus areas. first – part of the success of this roadmap will depend on public - private cooperation. we will need central banks to improve their core payment systems, allowing the private sector to follow suit. and at the same time, we will need the private sector to play a big role in the needed improvements when developing new payment systems and arrangements, or when enhancing existing services. we will also need the combined efforts of many different types of experts – from payment service providers and system operators, to supervisors, regulators, and central banks. but also from experts outside of the financial sector – like data authorities contributing to streamlining data provision and data sharing. second – to improve cross - border payments, we need coordination of regulatory, supervisory and oversight frameworks. cross - border payments obviously involve at least two jurisdictions, and often more, when correspondent banking networks are involved. this often creates frictions – with, as a result, the four challenges i just mentioned. to address these frictions, we will need actions on both an international and a national level. this should lead to a better

klaas knot : the road ahead - lifting barriers for cross - border payments speech by mr klaas knot, president of the netherlands bank, at the finsys commemoration of professor benno joseph ndulu on “ realizing a cross - border payment vision for the advancement of the african continental free trade area ( afcfta ) ”, virtual, 22 february 2022. * * * hello everyone. it is an honor to be here – in memory of professor ndulu. thank you doctor kasekende for reminding us of the importance of professor ndulu ’ s work. he had a vision i can very much relate to – especially in my capacity as chair of the financial stability board. professor ndulu ’ s vision was to establish a cross - border payments system in this region. and this aligns very well with the fsb ’ s vision. we have made it a priority to enhance cross - border payments – in our case at a global level. so it is a great pleasure to talk to you today about our ambitious workplan. i remember the time when i studied abroad. this was pre - euro. in italy. and it was quite a hassle for my parents to send me any money. today, my children are still in high school. but in the future, they may study abroad too. if that happens in the eurozone, i will experience hardly any hassle sending them money. unfortunately, there are still many payment corridors all over the world which face incredibly high costs and considerable delays. a recent report by the world bank provides an example from east africa where, in 2021, the fee for sending 200 dollars in remittances from tanzania to neighboring uganda was 23 percent for a ugandan migrant. 1 i cannot begin to imagine giving up nearly a quarter of my income every month just to send that money home to my family. but barriers like these are the reality for many people. and it is not just the cost of cross - border payments. these type of payments are often also slow and not transparent – and then there ’ s the fact that they are not fully accessible for all. the fsb stance is that the payments barriers should be reduced – for both individuals and companies. the more we trade and invest with one another, the more need for cross - border payments – it is as simple as that. as goods and capital markets continue to internationalise, cross - border payments, more than ever, sit at the heart