The Angolan kwanza has become the first currency other than the South African rand to be included as a settlement currency in the Southern African Development Community\u2019s regional real-time payment system, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago announced on Monday.<\/p>\n
The SADC-RTGS system enables the real-time settlement of cross-border transactions among the regional bloc\u2019s 15 countries. It was established to support trade and investment by replacing the more costly correspondent banking arrangements previously used. Since its launch in 2013, the system had settled transactions exclusively in South African rand, meaning that the inclusion of the kwanza marks the platform\u2019s transition to a multi-currency system for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
According to SARB data, commercial and interbank transactions between Angola and the other 14 SADC member states totaled approximately $3.77 billion across nine currencies in 2025. South Africa accounted for the largest share of this flow, at nearly $2.99 billion\u2014around 60% of transaction volume and 79% of the total value.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press conference in Pretoria alongside the Governor of the National Bank of Angola, Manuel Tiago Dias, Kganyago described the move as a practical demonstration of regional integration. He said it strengthens regional financial connectivity and shows that Africa is capable of building sophisticated market infrastructure tailored to its own priorities.<\/p>\n
Additional information from the central bank\u2019s statement shows that the change was formalized when Kganyago and Dias signed an agreement allowing the kwanza to be included. SARB said the move aligns with the G20\u2019s objectives for cross-border payments, which seek to reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the efficiency of international transactions.<\/p>\n
Officials emphasized that direct settlement in kwanza reduces the need for foreign-exchange conversion, lowering costs for participating institutions and their customers. They also said that plans are already underway to include other regional currencies, such as the Botswana pula.<\/p>\n
Explaining the rationale behind settlement in local currencies, Kganyago noted that each central bank can provide liquidity in its own currency in the event of a shortage\u2014something that would not be possible if the system depended on an external currency.<\/p>\n
Angolan authorities were careful to clarify the practical scope of the change. The Governor of the National Bank of Angola stressed that the measure does not mean the kwanza will become an accepted means of payment in the other participating countries, as each nation retains its monetary sovereignty. Instead, the mechanism will allow Angolan companies to pay trading partners in other member states directly in kwanza through participating banks.<\/p>\n
SARB plans to expand the system further. Botswana and Mozambique are already being prepared for the integration of their currencies, while eight countries have expressed interest in connecting their instant-payment systems to the regional hub. The bank said the legal, technical, and operational framework required to incorporate additional currencies into the platform over time is already in place.<\/p>\n
Analysts say the change could also directly benefit the Angolan currency, as broader use of the kwanza beyond Angola\u2019s borders is likely to increase its liquidity.<\/p>\n
Operated by SARB on behalf of the region\u2019s central banks, the SADC-RTGS system currently covers 15 member states\u2014all SADC members except Comoros\u2014and includes up to 89 participating banks. It is one of several initiatives underway to modernize cross-border payments in Africa, alongside the continent-wide Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and the African Continental Free Trade Area\u2019s Protocol on Digital Trade.<\/p>\n
Payment-system reform was a priority during South Africa\u2019s G20 presidency, with Kganyago advocating greater interoperability and regulatory alignment across sub-Saharan Africa. The challenges remain considerable: the average cost of person-to-person remittances in the region is still above 4%, well above the G20 target of reducing the global average cost to 1% by 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Angolan kwanza has become the first currency other than the South African rand to be included as a settlement currency in the Southern African Development Community\u2019s regional real-time payment system, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Lesetja Kganyago […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-featured"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10198"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10200,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10198\/revisions\/10200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}