BoN, Bundesbank to further bolster ties

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) and the central bank of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbank, want to strengthen existing ties, particularly in the areas of combating cybercrime and sharing of expertise.

This was said by BoN governor, Ipumbu Shiimi, on Wednesday at State House, after he and Deutsche Bundesbank president, Jens Weidmann, briefed president Hage Geingob on their plans.

Over their five-year relationship, the two banks have worked hand-in-hand in areas of central banking, exchanged visits and hosted regional workshops in Windhoek involving all Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, said Shiimi.

“We work together in various central banking areas such as payment systems, currency printing and currency management. We exchange information. We also get training and they have better capacity than us in Namibia,” he said, adding that the BoN has a great deal to learn from its German counterpart.

With the local economy currently in a precarious state, Iipumbu dismissed the prospect of borrowing money from Germany featuring in their 15-minute long closed-door meeting.

“There is no money involved. Capacity building is involved. You don’t need money, you need capacity,” he said.

Cybercrime

Weidmann said the area of cooperation topping the list is the fight against cybercrime and the dangers it poses to central banks around the world.

“We are cooperating in numerous areas including IT and cybersecurity. Cybercrime is something that concerns us both and how to create systems that are secure and can fend off attacks,” he said.

Finance minister Calle Schlettwein, who joined Geingob at the meeting, said they discussed ways to better secure systems against cybercrime, money laundering and funding of terrorism.

“Germany has a lot of experience in that,” Schlettwein said.

Wiedmann served as an advisor to German chancellor Angela Merkel for five years. According to Schlettwein this an added advantage as he has great insight and strong links to the German government.

“We also discussed economic issues, how we can better cooperate with Germany, address our structural reforms in the economy and improve investment streams from the European Union, especially from Germany,” he said. - Nampa