Ghana accounted for the majority of SWIFT financial messaging in West Africa. This was after movements in Ghana went up by 32.1 per cent followed by Nigeria with 24.5 per cent. 

Despite this significant growth in SWIFT messaging in these countries, overall transactions in Africa stood at 4.4 per cent; a decline from what was recorded in 2018. 

This is likely driven by slower economic growth in several African countries, including South Africa.

SWIFT, a global financial messaging provider, said latest figures, total traffic growth in Africa has decelerated since last year when it reached 16.7%. 

This is likely driven by slower economic growth in several African countries, including South Africa. SWIFT traffic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) dropped to 1.6% from 17.4% in the same period in 2018. 

Traffic growth in South Africa specifically has slowed to 2.9%, down from 14.4% at this time last year.  

SWIFT traffic volumes can be an indicator of economic growth. The data released therefore indicates a growth projection for many markets in Africa and reflects the challenge that some others may be facing.
 
Head of Sub-Sahara Africa, SWIFT, Denis Kruger said: “Africa is an important market for SWIFT and a critical component of our business. Even in the face of global economic challenges, many African countries continue to outperform SWIFT’s global traffic growth.” 

He added, “Africa’s financial industry is a key enabler of economic development. The SWIFT African Regional Conference is, therefore, an important platform for financial services stakeholders from across Africa to share ideas and ultimately define the future of financial services in Africa.” 

SWIFT Conference in Accra

The 26 SWIFT African Regional Conference opened in Accra on Monday, June 18 and it’s expected to close on June 20, 2019. 

The event brought together more than 500 policy makers, industry leaders and the broader financial community from across the African continent to discuss the most significant challenges and opportunities facing the continent.

President Nana Akufo-Addo who delivered the keynote address at the conference, charged players in the financial sector to do more to deal rising cyber-attacks which has the tendency to affect confidence in the financial sector. 

Speaking to JoyBusiness, Chief Executive of EMEA and APAC at SWIFT, Alain Raes said they have taken measures to build a robust platform to deal with these threats. 

Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank, Ade Ayeyemi, is expected to close the event. He would join other senior executive speakers from across the continent at the financial services event.

About SWIFT

SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.  

The messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. 

While SWIFT does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world.