The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Angola, on Thursday, signed a memorandum of understanding to foster closer bilateral relations and enhance capacity in central banking operations.

The signing ceremony took place in Washington, D.C, on the sidelines of the ongoing Annual Meetings of the IMF/World Bank Group.

The development marks a significant step towards strengthening financial cooperation between the two nations. It was attended by the governors of the BoA and CBN, Manuel Antonio Tiago Diaz, and Yemi Cardoso, respectively.

Mr Cardoso said that the MoU was long in the making, adding that its timing and setting were ideal.

According to him, the forum brings together stakeholders from different countries with diverse interests, creating opportunities to meet, collaborate, and build relationships.

“What we have done today reflects the very spirit of the annual and spring meetings of the World Bank Group,” he said.

The CBN governor said that increased cooperation among African central banks would help address shared challenges and strengthen regional understanding and collaboration.

CBN deputy governor (economic policy) Mohammed Abdullai described the MoU as a critical development in the pursuit of strengthened bilateral cooperation.

Mr Abdullai said that the agreement would establish a bilateral forum for reciprocal technical exchange and facilitate border supervision of authorised institutions.

He said that it would also provide a framework for licensing and cross-border resolution planning, and ensure a transparent, periodic exchange of information.

“The key areas of cooperation will include exchange control, financial markets, foreign reserves management, currency management, and research and monitoring. They also include payment systems management, financial sector development, banking supervision and regulation, as well as market conduct supervision,” he said.

He said that training of staff and sharing of experiences would also form part of the collaboration.

(NAN)