- August 11, 2021
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Current News
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for countries to give greater priority to building sufficient resources to leverage during times of crisis. Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have emerged as one means through which countries may manage a pool of sovereign assets which may be used to support their economies during a crisis. Since the economic impact of crises can be very severe, it is imperative that countries strengthen their capacity to weather economic recessions and other unforeseen challenges. Against this background, MEFMI hosted a webinar on 28 July 2021 to discuss SWFs in the region.
The webinar provided insights into key considerations for setting up and operating SWFs. Based on experiences of Rwanda and Mozambique, the webinar discussed SWF objectives, governance and operational structures, stakeholder engagement, as well as other key considerations when setting up and managing SWFs. The webinar also highlighted pertinent issues regarding accountability and transparency mechanisms for managing SWFs. Furthermore, the webinar raised awareness on institutional investment trends and gave a detailed analysis of the investment landscape and outlook for African assets within a global portfolio context. Discussions covered the opportunities provided by Africa’s sovereign bond and foreign exchange markets, and the prospects for SWFs to diversify their currency and credit risk exposures by investing in the African markets.
The webinar was facilitated by three (3) speakers: Mr. Gilbert Nyatanyi who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Agaciro Development Fund; Mr. Jamal Omar, the Executive Director at the Banco de Moçambique; and Dr. Malan Rietveld, a Consultant for Ninety-One.
A total of 84 officials (52 male and 32 female) from 14 countries, including 11 MEFMI member countries, participated in the webinar.
By Vivian Namugambe and Noel Mahombera