JOHANNESBURG, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The Angolan kwanza has become the first new settlement currency to join the Southern African Development Community Real-Time Gross Settlement (SADC-RTGS) system since its inception, marking a further step toward regional financial integration, the South African Government News Agency (SA News) said Tuesday.
The announcement was made jointly on Monday by South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Manuel Tiago Dias, governor of Banco Nacional de Angola, the central bank of Angola, SA News reported.
The SARB said the inclusion of the kwanza supports efforts to modernize regional payment systems and aligns with the Group of Twenty goals of making cross-border payments faster, cheaper and more efficient.
The SADC-RTGS system, which has settled transactions exclusively in South African rand since its launch in 2013, now enables direct settlement in Angolan kwanza, reducing foreign exchange conversion costs and facilitating cross-border transactions in local currencies.
Operated by the SARB on behalf of the SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors, the SADC-RTGS system is used by 15 countries across the region.
The SARB said additional regional currencies, such as the Botswana pula, are expected to be added in the future as part of efforts to promote greater use of local currencies in regional trade and reduce reliance on non-SADC currencies. ■