The establishment of a multi-institutional working group to actively advance technological innovation in Eswatini marks a new era for the country’s financial technology (FinTech) space. The Eswatini Fintech Working Group (EFWG), launched yesterday, is a partnership between regulators of different sectors being the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE), the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), and the Eswatini Competition Commission (ESCCOM), the Centre for Financial Inclusion (CFI) and the University of Eswatini (UNESWA).

The EFWG will work together in, amongst other things, resolving issues around the fintech space in the country, sharing knowledge as well as crafting solutions affecting the industry.

Chairmanship

Representing the CBE, which has been granted first chairmanship, was Deputy Governor Felicia Dlamini Kunene, who said financial technology was reshaping the financial industry and advancing how customers access and use financial services and products. She mentioned that the fintech had tremendous potential to bolster financial inclusion by reducing costs, customizing services down to the individual level and widening the range and outreach of different service providers.

“Overall, technology is enabling us to build and foster a new culture of efficiency, agility, adaptability and responsiveness, which together are important to improve social welfare, enhance resilience, increase national competitiveness and facilitate international trade,” she said.

She said to realise the full potential benefits that technology has for the Kingdom of Eswatini, the nation needs to take shared responsibility for the development and deployment of emerging technologies.

Dlamini-Kunene noted that the lack of infrastructure and regulations that enable the adoption of technology and innovation, aggravated by poor digital skills and knowledge, were hindering Eswatini’s development.

She stated that no one organisation or entity was capable of addressing these challenges alone.

“We need to all collaborate to effectively address the challenges and forge a way forward.  I am happy that the members of the EFWG have seen the need to support technology and innovation in Eswatini and are taking a proactive, coordinated and collaborative approach in this regard.

“We cannot bury our heads in the sand any longer and ignore new technologies as they emerge. We have to work to make our institutions and country efficient, and technology is a vital tool to achieve that,” she said.

She said they were proud that the CBE has been among the forerunners of innovation and technology in the country.

“In 2018, the bank established the Fintech Unit to manage the bank’s support towards adoption and regulation of technology-based financial services in the country.

‘‘Through this unit, the bank has been a pioneer of fintech initiatives, including the 2018 FinTech Challenge and the Eswatini Innovation Hackathon in 2019, which we have driven with our partners here today. To continue this support, the bank launched the fintech regulatory sandbox in March 2019,” she said.

(Adapted from Eswatini Observer)