International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor said South Africa fully supports the idea of a single African currency.

The establishment of the African Central Bank (ACB), the African Investment Bank (AIB) and the African Monetary Institute (AMI) of the African Union is seen as a critical step to introduce a single currency and boost intra-African trade.

Pandor said the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) and the commencement of trade from 1 January 2021 are seen as catalysts for long-term continental "prosperity and integration".

Pandor also said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in August 2021 reaffirmed the bloc's position on the establishment of a SADC central bank and monetary union.

According to Pandor, this is a long-term goal to harmonise the fiscal and monetary policies of SADC countries:

"The African Monetary Institute and the African Central Bank should be long-term goals in this regard."

The recently concluded AU Assembly Summit in February 2022 adopted a decision that directs the AfCFTA secretariat and the AU Commission to continue working with the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) to finalise negotiations on all outstanding technical issues, especially on macroeconomic convergence criteria, which remain an obstacle to the early operationalisation of the African Union's financial institutions.