Addis Ababa, 30 October 2022 (ECA) – The Innovative Finance and Capital Markets Section, Private Sector Development and Finance Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Frontclear, have launched a technical assistance programme to support the Bank of Tanzania in its efforts to develop the local money and interbank markets.
The technical assistance programme relates to a four-part programme captured under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Bank of Tanzania and Frontclear. The first activity is the kick-off workshop on the Money Market Diagnostic Framework (MMDF) held in Dar es Salaam, on 27 October 2022, attended by 32 participants from the central bank, CSDR, several pension funds and 20 commercial banks. The MMDF is made possible with the financial support of the French Development Agency (AFD).
Sonia Essobmadje, Chief, Innovative Finance and Capital Markets Section, Private Sector Development and Finance Division, ECA, delivered opening remarks during the kick-off workshop, introducing ECA’s role in assisting Member States to develop their financial markets and the expected outcomes MMDF analysis in Tanzania. Philip Buyskes, CEO, Frontclear, explained in his presentation why money markets matter, within the context of recent global market developments, and the challenges and solutions often arisen in MMDF analyses across Sub-Saharan African markets. Ms. Ingrid Hagen, Senior Vice President, Frontclear, outlined the steps, timeline, and expected results of the MMDF analysis.
Liku Kamba, Manager, Financial Markets, Bank of Tanzania made closing remarks on behalf of Yamungu M. Kayandabila, Deputy Governor, Economic and Financial Policies, Bank of Tanzania, by thanking the ECA and Frontclear for this timely project, and the active participation of the banks. She reaffirmed the Bank of Tanzania’s commitment to developing the money and interbank markets.
ECA also attended related activities before and after the MMDF kick-off workshop. On 28 October, Frontclear and ECA visited 6 commercial banks in Tanzania to gain a better understanding of the challenges, priorities, and needs of the market, and to sensitize the focal persons of these banks about the technical assistance programme.
After the MMDF kick-off workshop, an online induction workshop will be held with the focal persons from both the regulators and commercial banks, who will fill in questionnaires for data collection. This will be followed by one-on-one interviews for data consistency and reconciliation. The draft report will be prepared with the key outcomes of the MMDF, which will be presented at a review workshop with all stakeholders, prior to finalization. The MMDF analysis will take about three to four months in Tanzania.
Another joint Frontclear and ECA technical assistance activity as part of the programme, is the Tradeclear feasibility study, also supported in part by AFD. It will be launched in Tanzania in 2023 after a Frontclear legal and regulatory review on the enforceability of standard underlying documentations for repo and derivatives transactions.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org