By Zachary Gava
Harare, (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe was among 11 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states whose central bank officials received training on assessing emerging risks in the non-bank financial sector as the regional bloc moves to strengthen financial stability and resilience.
The five-day virtual training programme, conducted from September 7 to 11 by the COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI), brought together 76 participants from central banks and financial authorities across the region.
In a statement on COMESA’s website, Zimbabwe was represented alongside Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius and Uganda, while the Seychelles Financial Services Authority also participated.
The training focused on strengthening the capacity of financial-sector authorities to identify, measure and respond to risks emerging from the rapidly expanding non-bank financial sector.
Non-bank financial institutions include insurance companies, pension funds, microfinance institutions, investment and brokerage firms, savings and credit cooperatives, fintech companies and electronic-money issuers.
CMI Director, Dr Lucas Njoroge said the changing financial landscape required regulators to strengthen their ability to identify risks arising from increasing links between banks and non-bank institutions.
He said banks were increasingly diversifying into non-traditional activities and forming partnerships with non-bank financial institutions to provide a wider range of financial services.
“Advances in technology, increased reliance on capital markets, and stronger institutional linkages have created a more complex financial ecosystem,” Dr Njoroge said.
He said the developments required stronger supervisory and macro-prudential oversight to ensure that emerging vulnerabilities did not threaten financial stability.
“Financial supervisors and regulators require robust analytical tools to identify, measure, and mitigate emerging systemic risks from the non-bank financial sector,” he said.
The programme equipped participants with practical skills to assess systemic risks associated with non-bank financial institutions, including analyzing their links with commercial banks and identifying vulnerabilities within the wider financial system.
Participants were trained in developing risk indicators and dashboards, conducting stress tests and addressing data gaps that can affect financial-sector risk assessments.
The training also examined risks associated with liquidity mismatches, leverage, concentrated sovereign exposures and operational vulnerabilities arising from increasingly digital financial systems.
COMESA said the rapid expansion of non-bank financial institutions was creating both opportunities and challenges for economies in the region.
The institutions play an important role in mobilizing savings, financing investment, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, facilitating retirement planning and extending financial services to previously under-served populations.
However, the growing inter-connectedness between banks, non-bank institutions, governments and financial markets can also provide channels through which financial shocks spread across the system.
The training sought to strengthen regional capacity for macro-prudential surveillance, financial-sector supervision and crisis prevention.
COMESA said the programme also provided an opportunity for regulators and supervisors from member states to exchange experiences and share approaches to identifying financial-sector vulnerabilities.
The initiative comes as financial technology and non-bank financial services continue to expand across Africa, increasing the need for regulators to keep pace with new products, business models and risks.
For Zimbabwe, participation in the regional programme provides an opportunity for its financial authorities to strengthen their analytical capacity in monitoring institutions outside the traditional banking sector.
The training forms part of the COMESA Monetary Institute’s broader efforts to improve financial-sector resilience and support economic stability among member states.
COMESA comprises 21 member states with a combined population of more than 600 million people, and promotes regional integration through trade and the development of economic and financial cooperation.
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