BitcoinKE caught up with Pedro Cavarlho, Chief Operating Officer, Barclays Mozambique, during the Seamless East Africa 2019 Conference, to discuss fintech, banking, and cryptocurrencies.
Some of the topics we discussed include:
- Fintechs and Banks working together
- Fintech as a channel
- How technology is disrupting banking
- Cryptocurrency and regulation
- Intra-Africa trade solutions
- Volatility challenges of cryptocurrencies
- Mobile lending vs. cryptocurrency
Pedro was very positive of the opportunities that cryptocurrencies offer when it comes to intra-Africa trade.
Speaking on regulation, he said:
“Banks and mainly regulators are still trying to understand the risks and the benefits that cryptocurrencies can bring to the global economy and local economies. Monetary policy is still a concern for most of our governments and central banks.”
SEE ALSO: Barclays Kenya Begins Transition to ABSA and Says it Will Not Be Supporting Crypto Yet
He admitted that there are still no mechanisms and platforms that allow local currencies to be traded between different countries.
“We see some of our clients resulting to cryptocurrencies to do cross-border trading. We understand that its convenient and in some cases cheap to transact cross-border, but there are a number of risks associated with that that we try to educate our clients about.”
He added:
“Definitely to promote intra-Africa trade, we need to find solutions. The economic agents are not well protected by existing cryptocurrencies. Something new will need to come up and we know that in a number of countries, Central Banks are planning to come up with their own cryptocurrencies that will be issued under a certain regulatory framework, you know, with boundaries and rules, and they will also offer a level of security that existing cryptocurrencies do currently offer.
I’m sure in the next couple of years, we will see a lot happening around cryptocurrencies. I think its something that won’t disappear because its very convenient. This is a fantastic piece of technology supporting the way cryptocurrencies operate.”
He advised parties in the space to meet regulators across the continent as a college of regulators to discuss and engage with the community to understand the needs and solutions in the market to promote cross-border training.
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