South Africa has taken a major step towards expanding local-currency trade in Southern Africa after the Angolan kwanza became the second settlement currency on a regional payment system that had operated exclusively in rand for 13 years.
The kwanza has been introduced into the Southern African Development Community Real-Time Gross Settlement system, known as SADC-RTGS, allowing approved banks and financial institutions to settle eligible regional transactions directly in the Angolan currency.
The development was announced on Monday by South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Banco Nacional de Angola Governor Manuel Tiago Dias.
South Africa is currently Africa’s largest economy, with the International Monetary Fund projecting its nominal gross domestic product at approximately $480 billion in 2026, ahead of Egypt and Nigeria.
Its central bank operates the SADC-RTGS platform on behalf of the central banks participating in the regional bloc, giving South Africa a central role in the payment infrastructure supporting trade across Southern Africa.
