Cooperation with the Central Bank of Morocco as a hub for bilateral central bank dialogue

© Thomas Langer

The Bundesbank traditionally participates in the annual meeting of the heads of training of the French-speaking central banks of Africa. On the sidelines of one of these meetings, the Central Bank of Morocco approached the Bundesbank to express its wish for greater cooperation between the two institutions. This culminated in a series of three-day regional seminars held at the Bank Al-Maghrib’s training centre in Rabat. The Central Bank of Morocco offered these seminars not only to its staff, but also extended the invitation to staff from other central banks in Africa and the Middle East – this meant that the centre’s large training room was well filled, with 40 to 50 participants each time.

Seminar on financial stability 

The regional seminar series in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, was kicked off in September 2023. The agenda was prepared and overseen by Manuel Buchholz from the Bundesbank’s Directorate General Financial Stability and Alexander Schwarz, senior advisor for financial stability at the Centre for International Central Bank Dialogue (CIC). The exchange focused on current issues relating to systemic risk analysis and macroprudential policy (see also the December 2023 newsletter: Regional seminar in cooperation with the Central Bank of Morocco | Deutsche Bundesbank).

Seminar on banking supervision

The regional seminar on banking supervision, focusing on Basel III, was held by the Bank Al-Maghrib and the Bundesbank in November 2023. Professor Andreas Igl, lecturer at the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences in Hachenburg, and Karin Sagner-Kaiser, senior advisor for banking supervision at the CIC, spent three days engaged in in-depth, lively discussions with participants on the implementation of the current Basel framework, on top of which came presentations on national implementation delivered by experts from the Bank Al-Maghrib as well as from participants from Botswana, Ghana, Oman, Tanzania, and spoken input from many in attendance.

Seminar on cash management

© Thomas Langer

February 2024 saw the Bank Al-Maghrib and the Bundesbank run the third seminar of the trio. This time cash management was the order of the day, with attendees coming largely from northern African countries and Burundi but also from Jordan and Oman. The seminar, which was prepared and held by our CIC senior advisor Thomas Langer, focused on the challenges facing central banks amid changes in the cash cycle and payment behaviour, the need to increase efficiency in the work processes through automation and digitalisation, and the areas of activity for management regarding the future of cash. 

Continuation of seminar series 

The three events were met with widespread interest and could quite certainly be hailed as a success. They did more than provide a venue for conveying expertise: participants shared a great deal of information and made personal contacts, all of which promotes cooperation between central banks that are committed to similar objectives. All participants said that they would like the seminar series to continue.

Seminar on achieving a sustainable financial system at the Arab Monetary Fund

Another seminar focusing on the Middle East took place in Abu Dhabi in early 2024 as part of cooperation between the Bundesbank and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). This event centred around the role of central banks in achieving the objective of a sustainable financial system with regard to the work of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). The seminar was led by Katja Hofmann from the CIC and Robin Bohn, Bundesbank expert on sustainability issues, together with colleagues from the AMF. The CIC will be offering further events on this topic, including a virtual lecture series starting in June 2024.

Text: Katja Hofmann, Karin Sagner-Kaiser