financial stability board, but also by including more effectively countries such as ours in sub - saharan africa. for example, the unintended consequences of the global reform agenda, such as the global de - risking and withdrawal of correspondent banking relationships, requires urgent attention. i should mention that, in my capacity as co - chairperson of the financial stability board regional consultative group for sub - saharan africa, i hope to have greater focus on these issues. conclusion distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in concluding, i remind you that the saying " may you live in interesting times " is reputedly an old chinese curse. to the extent that the past decade has certainly been " interesting ", the continued challenge to pol14 icymakers is to make life at least a little bit boring, while not repeating the mistakes of the past. on a more positive note, despite the recent pushback by the supporters of economic nationalism, the fundamental driving forces of globalisation are not reversible. nor is it desirable that they should be, given the extent to which they have contributed to global poverty reduction. however, the globalised economy is a source of not just tremendous opportunities, even for conservative investors, but additional risks and associated costs of mitigation. these include the potential for various levels of contagion, as indicated by both the experience of the global financial crisis and the rise of cybercrime which, as i indicated my remarks, is an increasingly global phenomenon. no central bank governor, wealth or fund manager can afford to act as if they are immune from such risks. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, i thank you for your kind attention.

same time, we must recognise that the impact will vary according to the specific circumstances of each region and country. one thing for sure is that the current financial crisis is unprecedented in modern times for its scale and catastrophic dimensions, and its full impact has yet to unfold. another defining feature of the crisis has been the pace and dynamism of its development, often in unexpected directions. it is less than two months since the collapse of lehman brothers on september 15, 2008, but it is not much of an exaggeration to say that this seems like a life time away. africa had initially appeared relatively insulated, both for its financial system and economic development more widely. but the continent can no longer be lulled by any sense of security that this is a crisis only for the developed world, and its banks in particular. globalisation has many benefits, but there are associated risks and, as the international monetary fund has repeatedly come up with lower forecasts for global economic growth, it is increasingly clear that developing economies will feel the chill of the looming recession. the commodities boom has come to an abrupt halt, and this is of particular concern to many african economies given the negativeimpact of reduced trade on balance of payments. panel members : mr kofi annan ( chair ), mr tony blair, mr michel camdessus, mr peter eigen, mr bob geldof, ms graca machel, ms linah mohohlo, gen olusegun obasanjo, mr robert rubin, mr tidjane thiam, prof muhammad yunus, mr michael keating ( director ). slowing world demand also undermines african countries ’ efforts towards diversifying economies away from primary sectors. as we are witnessing in botswana, even when investors wish to proceed with new developments, they are increasingly constrained by lack of access to credit. the so - called “ flight to quality ” where risk averse investors concentrate their investments in the short end of the yield curve, can destabilise financial flows. in the face of global financial markets, africa ’ s banking practices as well as related regulatory and oversight regimes cannot continue to remain local and, in many instances, ineffective. needless to add, investing foreign exchange reserves in volatile markets is an additional challenge which requires the establishment of prudent investment policies and guidelines, depending on whether the reserves are the minimum necessary for short - term import cover, or represent an accumulated stock of national savings ( e. g.