Accra: Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called for stronger collaboration among financial regulators, saying no single institution can effectively manage the increasingly interconnected risks confronting Africa's financial system. Addressing delegates at the Africa Pension Supervisors Association (APSA) Annual Conference in Accra, Dr Asiama emphasized the need for coordinated supervision as systemic risks now extend beyond individual sectors.
According to Ghana Web, Dr Asiama highlighted the complementary responsibilities of various financial bodies including pension regulators, central banks, securities regulators, insurance supervisors, finance ministries, and deposit protection agencies. He noted that each perspective is necessary and none, on its own, is complete. The Governor cited Ghana's Financial Stability Council as an example of effective inter-agency collaboration, which brings together multiple financial entities to monitor emerging vulnerabilities and coordinate policy responses.
Dr Asiama stressed that systemic risks rarely respect institutional boundaries, underscoring the importance of information sharing and joint oversight. He pointed out that effective macroprudential supervision relies on timely, comparable, and sufficiently detailed data. He warned that if information is fragmented, delayed, or defined differently across sectors, a connected financial system can appear to regulators as a collection of separate balance sheets.
The Governor welcomed discussions on establishing an Africa Pension and Asset Management Data Hub, describing it as a crucial initiative for strengthening market transparency and financial stability across the continent. He also commended the National Pensions Regulatory Authority for its efforts in implementing risk-based supervision, updating operational guidelines, and integrating information and communications technology governance into its supervisory framework.
Dr Asiama concluded by stating that closer regulatory cooperation would become increasingly important as Africa's financial systems continue to expand and become more interconnected.