The financial services sector in the COMESA region, presently reeling in fluctuations of foreign exchange and runaway inflation, will need to do more as a bloc to devise common solutions, the Executive Director in Charge of Supervision at the Bank of Uganda, Justine Bagyenda, has said.
Speaking during a networking dinner hosted by AITEC Africa to announce renewal of sponsorship for the annual Banking and Mobile Money COMESA Conference by the PayNet Group,  Bagyenda said the regional financial services sector also needed to brace itself for a more volatile period ahead. "The economies are facing common challenges, and although the future looks bright, there is pressing need for bankers, innovators and regulators to sit together and to thrash out common solutions," she said.
Uganda's real GDP, which grew by 6.2 percent in 2010-11 compared to 5.4 percent in the previous fiscal year, continued to combat running annual headline inflation which rose from 5% in January 2011 to 28.3% in September 2011.

"The rise in annual inflation has been driven by unstable food prices which have been driven up by supply side shocks to agriculture, both domestic and external. Food price inflation stood at 50.4% in September 2011,"she said, adding that the impact of exchange rate depreciation on imported goods prices including fuel continued to affect not only Uganda, but the region as a bloc.

Bagyenda asked AITEC Africa, which has been promoting the use of ICT in Africa for over two decades, to work towards making the 2012 AITEC Banking & Mobile Money COMESA conference "a common solutions laboratory".

"Mobile money has become an important component of our financial services sector. Uganda, for instance, has three out of the five Mobile Network Operators offering mobile money transfers. There is no doubt as to the role technology plays in changing the economic outlook," she said, praising the role played by AITEC Africa in bringing various technology developers and players in the financial services sector together in the region's annual banking conference.

Bernard Mathewman, CEO at Paynet, announced during the event that his company would for the fifth year running take lead sponsorship of the conference scheduled for March, next year, "to encourage reflection by the sector", and "notes sharing." Paynet runs the PesaPoint ATM network and other financial services in various countries across the COMESA bloc.

The Banking and Mobile Money conference, he added, presents a unique opportunity for the financial services sector to collectively meet and thrash out issues bedevilling financial services.

The regional economic integration championed by the COMESA and EAC regional groupings is outlined to have a strong potential to boost investment and trading opportunities which will spur increased competition and efficiency.

During the event, Sean Moroney, the Chairman of AITEC Africa, announced that his organization was supporting a budding Mobile Money Forum called NaiPay, which would help stakeholders in mobile payments meet more regularly to address common challenges.

The Banking and Mobile Money COMESA conference held early in 2011 at the KICC attracted 1,000 delegates from across the COMESA bloc and was termed "highly successful" by other speakers during the dinner.