the reason some banks failed in 2008. but groupthink was the reason most banks ( as well as many regulators, central banks and academics ) failed in 2008. as lack of diversity was the cause of these failures, greater diversity can be the antidote to them recurring in future. plato argued that necessity is the mother of all invention. the evidence, accumulated over the centuries since, suggests plato may have been only half right. diversity may be the true mother of all invention – and the father of all risk management. that being the case, what should be the next steps in harvesting these benefits? we have all got a lot on our plates : from the uncertainties of brexit to the complexities of geo - politics ; from wrenching technological change to rising inequality ; from simmering mistrust of big business, big banks and big government. we would be forgiven for putting diversity issues on the back - burner while these more pressing matters resolved themselves, would we not? while this sounds reasonable, i think it would be exactly the wrong response. this environment is precisely one in which we should be pressing the accelerator, rather than the brake, on diversity policies and practices. why? because an environment of acute uncertainty and ambiguity is one in which the organisational returns to diversity are likely to be greatest. what is the best safeguard against the ambiguities of geo - politics? a workforce with diversity of thought and experience who can juggle competing world views. how are the opportunities of technology best to be harnessed? with a creatively diverse workforce, masquerading as five year olds. how is trust to be rebuilt among diverse and disenchanted customers and stakeholders? by having a workforce which is their mirror - image, who can understand their needs and perspectives. and how are entrenched inequalities in income and wealth to be redressed? by first tackling inbuilt inequalities in educational attainment and social mobility. these are fine as aspirations, but how are they to be realised? what is the next frontier for diversity and how is it to be reached? from a potentially long list, let me make four points on possible next steps. first, we have barely scratched the surface when it comes to harvesting the fruits of existing diversity initiatives, focussed on the protected characteristics of gender, ethnicity and disability. on gender, where progress has perhaps been fastest and furthest, there are still gaps to fill all the way up

bank has assisted in the establishment of a financial sector contingency forum for such contingency planning. a key objective of the forum is to identify crisis events that may threaten the stability of the south african financial sector and to develop appropriate plans, mechanisms and structures to mitigate such potential threats and manage crisis events. regional economic co - operation the promotion of regional economic co - operation in africa generally and in the southern african development community ( sadc ) more specifically continues to form part of the major activities of the south african reserve bank. the bank fully supports the new partnership for africa ’ s development ( nepad ) goals of accelerated growth and sustainable development, poverty eradication and reversing the marginalisation of africa in the globalisation process. we will continue to play an active role towards the realisation of these ideals. the bank has also participated actively in the committee of central bank governors in the sadc region during the past year. the major initiatives undertaken included the establishment of a common monetary area cross - border payment oversight committee ; the implementation of a cross - border foreign exchange recording system in namibia, swaziland and zimbabwe ; significant progress in the harmonisation of national payment systems, information and communication technology capacity, banking supervision and exchange control ; and agreement on the promotion of the focus on price stability as an appropriate and realisable target of macroeconomic convergence as a prerequisite for monetary integration. internal administration in order to achieve the objective of price and financial stability and to ensure that all activities are conducted efficiently, a number of changes were again made to the internal administration of the reserve bank in the past year. in particular, the reduction of costs without loss of productivity received high priority. staff and operational costs were thoroughly scrutinised to minimise expenses. a moratorium was placed on appointments with effect from 1 august 2002 to reduce staff numbers. moreover, voluntary early retirement packages were also offered during april 2003 to 282 staff members aged 50 and older to curtail costs. a total of 173 responses have been received to date, of which 114 staff members indicated that they accept the offer. a number of initiatives were launched in the area of information and communication technology focusing on cost reduction and improved efficiency. the renewal of the mainframe and the improved management of the network infrastructure will result in significant cost saving over time, address future capacity requirements and improve the availability and reliability of the bank ’ s infrastructure. in reviewing the implementation of the bank ’ s cash handling strategy, the average overnight notes