Angola has officially integrated its national currency, the kwanza, into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Integrated Regional Electronic Settlement System (SIRESS), marking a significant step toward reducing transaction costs and bolstering local-currency trade across Southern Africa. According to reporting by Bloomberg and Business Insider Africa, the inclusion of Africa’s largest oil-producing economy aims to streamline cross-border payments and decrease reliance on hard currencies like the US dollar for intra-regional commerce.
Expanding the SADC Regional Payments Hub
The addition of the Angolan kwanza broadens the scope of SIRESS, which serves as the real-time gross settlement system for the SADC region. According to Reuters, South Africa’s financial infrastructure plays a central role in supporting the hub, which processes transactions between member states to clear trade faster and more transparently. By incorporating Angola, the platform absorbs another major regional economy, allowing businesses to settle trades in local tender rather than routing funds through correspondent banks outside the continent.
According to Business Day, the integration process required strict regulatory alignments and technical adjustments by the National Bank of Angola to ensure seamless interoperability with participating institutions in neighboring countries.
Economic Impacts and Trade Integration
According to EWN, financial authorities across the SADC bloc view the expansion as a cornerstone of broader regional financial integration, designed to foster intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
Future Outlook for SADC Financial Infrastructure
According to Bloomberg, the SADC Payments Hub aims to onboard more member states and currencies to further deepen financial market integration and reduce transaction friction.
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