BOU, Bank of Sudan to strengthen relations

Dr Kasekende hands over a copy of a book entitled, "The Golden Odyssey, Bank of Uganda 1966-2016" to the Governor Central Bank of Sudan, Hazim Abdelgadir at the Bank of Uganda's headquarters in Kampala

Bank of Uganda and the Central Bank of Sudan have agreed to explore all avenues to consolidate and expand trade and investment between Uganda and Sudan.

This was during a meeting between Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor, Dr Louis Kasekende, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan Hazim Abdelgadir, on Tuesday at the Bank of Uganda offices in Kampala.

Abdelgair who is part of President Omar Al Bashir's delegation to Uganda also interacted with senior officials of Bank of Uganda.

Kasekende and Abdelgadir agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to guide the two central banks in the various areas of cooperation such as payments systems, correspondent banking, capacity building and other avenues of facilitation of trade and investment between the two countries.

"We can exploit existing opportunities under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regional initiative for purposes of trade facilitation such as the COMESA Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) as well as leverage the financial institutions operating in both countries to foster economic relations," Kasekende said.

Abdelgadir expressed readiness to share Sudan's rich experience in Islamic finance and banking in light of the recent legislation that paved way for the introduction of Islamic banking products in Uganda.

He agreed to the proposal to expedite Sudan's participation in the COMESA REPSS.

Uganda is one of the eight countries that are fully participating in the COMESA REPSS, an electronic platform which facilitates cross-border payments by allowing faster, cheaper and secure transfer of funds by both importers and exporters within the COMESA region.

In addition to leveraging the regional integration initiatives; the two Central banks committed to strengthen bilateral relations.