The Big Stories || Currency Development Series: UPSA forum will examine the geopolitics of de-dollarisation - JoyNews
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00:00 Thank you so much for staying here on the AM show.
00:03 It's now time to let you in on a very important dialogue
00:08 happening later today at 11 AM at the University
00:11 of Professional Studies here in Accra.
00:13 And it's the Currency Development Dialogue Series.
00:16 It's the first of its kind.
00:18 And once again, I have been joined
00:21 by Dr. Eric Boatengi-Adam, who is a senior lecturer
00:24 at the Faculty of Accounting and Finance at the university,
00:27 to my immediate left and my far left, Professor Isaac Pwede.
00:31 He's the Dean of the Faculty of Accounting and Finance at UPSC.
00:35 Welcome, Doc and Prof.
00:37 It's good to have you here again.
00:38 Thank you.
00:39 Good to see you, Bernice.
00:40 Right.
00:40 All right.
00:41 So I mean, we've had this conversation.
00:43 But for the benefit of those who are not
00:46 aware of what currency development is,
00:48 Prof, just run us through the entire concept
00:51 and why it's important that we even begin
00:53 to have such conversations.
00:55 Yes, thank you very much.
00:56 And good morning to our viewers.
00:59 We're here last-- two days ago, we had to bring the concept down.
01:05 Today, we have to do that.
01:07 So there are a few things that we
01:09 are going to consider this morning at 11 o'clock at UPSC
01:12 campus.
01:13 It's a Currency Development Dialogue Series.
01:19 What is it about?
01:22 The idea is to explore the geopolitics of digitalization
01:28 in part on a common African currency.
01:30 There are two ways that we need to break it down.
01:34 Geopolitics, we're looking at political international
01:38 relationships that are influenced by some factors.
01:42 And then digitalization is about trading less of a dollar.
01:46 That's all the discussion about.
01:48 In 2007, we had a world financial crisis.
01:53 And a quick response to that, five countries
01:57 came together in Russia to have a common economic partnership,
02:03 not a political partnership.
02:05 After the formation, several meetings have been held.
02:09 And there's one coming in August this year in South Africa,
02:15 where there's going to be introduction of a new currency.
02:18 That was just key discussions.
02:20 There will be other things.
02:21 The idea is to have a dollar-backed digital currency
02:25 that will be introduced for trading.
02:28 And our dialogue today will seek to stimulate discussions
02:35 around economic and political areas.
02:38 That's what we are going to discuss.
02:40 And it impacts on our common currency as in Africa.
02:44 Right.
02:45 So these countries that you refer to, the BRICS, right?
02:47 Yes.
02:48 It's what you refer to.
02:49 But here in our sub-region, Doc, we
02:51 know that we have made attempts at having a regional currency.
02:57 I don't know how long it will take us to get there.
02:59 But briefly, share with us how we
03:03 can learn from this example, the lessons from the BRICS,
03:08 and why it's important that we begin
03:10 to consider a common currency for the sub-region.
03:15 Thank you, Bernice.
03:15 Consider its implementation, rather,
03:17 because we have already considered it.
03:19 So the effective implementation of it
03:21 is what I'm talking about.
03:22 So within the African context, if we
03:27 have to come up with a common currency,
03:30 we have to learn from previous currencies
03:34 that have been developed.
03:35 We have the EU.
03:36 That is a EU.
03:38 Then BRICS is coming up.
03:40 So what is the trajectory?
03:41 What path does it follow?
03:44 If we'll, like Prof rightly mentioned,
03:47 when they came together in 2009 and later South Africa
03:50 joined in 2010, they've taken their time
03:54 to bury their differences.
03:55 If we look at the politics between China and India,
04:00 they have differences.
04:03 They have border disputes, differences in governance,
04:05 differences in ideologies, and trade, and everything.
04:08 But because of their common aim, they've buried their differences.
04:12 And that is what Africa has not been able to do.
04:14 Whether we should go with the Francophone,
04:16 whether we should look at the Anglophone,
04:17 whether-- so the politics of it, we
04:20 should come to the point where we bury the differences of it.
04:23 And secondly, they also--
04:24 the BRICS nation are building financial institutions.
04:29 For example, they have the New Development Bank.
04:32 That is almost working like the World Bank.
04:35 Within that New Development Bank,
04:38 they have been able to sponsor about 30 billion projects.
04:42 And they are also trying to consolidate countries.
04:46 And as we speak now, there are about 14 nations
04:48 that have applied to be part of the BRICS.
04:50 So probably we'll be having BRICS+
04:53 to cater for the other nations that are coming.
04:56 So it's a gradual process.
04:59 And they are building the systems to capture it.
05:01 And that is what Africa is failing to do.
05:03 That we started a discussion of an echo several years
05:07 before this BRICS.
05:08 We don't have the political will.
05:10 We are not burying our differences
05:12 to bring every country within the African continent
05:15 together to make sure this works.
05:18 So until then, I think we'll keep talking about echo.
05:23 And it will still not see the light of day.
05:25 Well, if you use the term "de-dolarization,"
05:28 why is that important?
05:30 And what are the implications of achieving that?
05:36 I indicated that "de" means that you
05:38 want to do less of something.
05:40 And we bring dollar.
05:41 So we want to trade less.
05:44 Less dependence on a certain currency.
05:47 If nations such as--
05:54 nations that control about 60%, 26% of--
05:58 I mean, a trillion of resources, financial resources,
06:02 coming together, it tells you that you're
06:06 going to have a shift in the global economic dynamics.
06:11 It will change.
06:13 So if a country is going to come together
06:16 to trade on one common currency, the implications for Africa
06:20 are enormous.
06:22 We're going to have--
06:24 it changes our trading pattern.
06:26 It also changes our reserves, preferences as well.
06:32 So these are things that we want our listeners to come and--
06:36 And come and write.
06:37 But is that the key to our currency gaining grounds?
06:41 Because as we established when you came the time back,
06:46 when the dollar goes down, as Doc told us,
06:49 the trajectory shows over the years,
06:52 another will rise to take its place.
06:54 Doesn't that bring us to the same point then?
06:59 Well, I don't know.
07:02 It gave us a trend, starting from Spanish real.
07:06 It moved all the way to the Dutch guilder,
07:11 then to the British pound.
07:14 And then all the way after the Second World War,
07:17 dollar took over.
07:18 Yes, if anything to go by, then it's
07:22 a time for another currency to be used.
07:25 But my question is, doesn't it bring us to the same point
07:29 where we'll still have to trade in that currency?
07:31 That currency will gain dominance.
07:33 And then we are back to square one,
07:34 not having enough reserves to meet the demands on the market.
07:39 Can't the playing field be such that we
07:42 don't have one dominant currency over a particular country?
07:47 Say the yuan, for example, the Chinese yuan, for example.
07:50 Is it possible that we can get to the point
07:52 where we trade in currencies and not just one,
07:56 given such dominance to one particular country?
07:59 If that is possible, how long will it
08:00 take us to get there?
08:02 How long will be difficult to tell from where I sit.
08:05 But then we can look at a fundamental
08:07 that will take us there by looking back to see the future.
08:13 What is going to get us there is, number one,
08:16 the share of the global economy that you control,
08:21 and also the natural resources you control,
08:25 and how you're able to begin on the international platform.
08:28 And if you look at the BRICS, Russia and Brazil
08:34 control a huge portion of natural resources.
08:37 And China also controls a huge portion of global output.
08:42 So they have what it takes.
08:44 And if we look at the dynamics, the country that
08:46 is making out of BRICS, they represent about four
08:49 out of the seven continents.
08:51 So they want to have a fair representation.
08:53 But then the question is, will Africa--
08:55 if the BRICS intrudes, are we going
08:57 to come back to square one, where
08:59 we have to also build another reserve in BRICS currency?
09:03 The question is, yes.
09:04 If we don't see the future coming,
09:07 you'll always be taking--
09:08 it will always take you by surprise,
09:10 and you have to flow with the wind.
09:12 So this discussion aimed to make us, as an Africans,
09:15 to look forward and prepare towards it,
09:17 that, hey, even if we sign on to the BRICS currency,
09:21 and we don't do what we need to do by building our institution,
09:26 building our industries and factories,
09:28 we will come back to be a slave to another currency,
09:30 just like a dollar.
09:32 And just like in the UN, where certain countries have better
09:36 bargaining powers than others, is it the same within the BRICS?
09:39 Or it's an equal playing field for all these five countries
09:42 that make up the BRICS?
09:45 I think in so many areas, there will be variations,
09:49 resources-wise, geographical-wise, space,
09:54 and all that.
09:57 I think that these countries, as indicated,
10:01 about 40% of the world's population.
10:05 We indicate that it's going to be a plus,
10:08 meaning the rest of other continental countries
10:11 who are likely to join.
10:12 And we've been told of other countries preparing to join.
10:16 It shapes the entire global space.
10:19 And there's a time that a good model also needs to be replicated.
10:24 We are a champion of common cause.
10:26 We have a case study, a test case.
10:29 And the test case is that there's going to be an introduction of a currency.
10:33 We'll learn the political will, we'll learn the institutional powers.
10:38 We also can look at the economic convergence of how these things are done.
10:42 And it's a good field for us to learn.
10:45 So the BRICS currency will be outdoored this year?
10:49 That this is part of the discussions in South Africa?
10:52 The Russian-Ukraine issue doesn't affect it at all, does it?
10:57 Okay.
10:58 Because we're talking about geopolitics here.
11:01 That's the way. But let me also mention the composition.
11:03 That for now, each of the five countries has one vote.
11:07 So when they were contributing to build the new development bank of the BRICS,
11:13 each of them contributed an equal amount.
11:15 So in terms of composition, for now,
11:18 then whether to change in the future, each of them has one vote.
11:21 But whether it will be introduced this year or not,
11:24 when you check Bloomberg, as of last week,
11:27 the ambassador of South Africa,
11:30 who is committed to this BRICS, Mr. Nell,
11:34 mentioned that they don't intend to introduce a common currency now,
11:39 but rather they would deepen trading in their local currency.
11:43 So which is mostly the yuan.
11:45 And they buy and sell within their local currency,
11:48 instead of going for the yuan.
11:49 So we are not saying that it will be introduced just this year.
11:53 But it's a long-term plan that they need to build consensus.
11:57 They need to get a lot of countries to sign on.
12:00 They need to build the infrastructure to contain it when it's being introduced.
12:04 So I should say that we don't see it introduced soon.
12:08 But eventually, something needs to overthrow the dollar.
12:11 I know you want to hear a lot, Moin.
12:12 And that's why you have to make time to join Prof and Doc much later today,
12:16 at 11am at the UPSA West Wing of the Auditorium Ride.
12:20 And the conversation is on currency development.
12:25 All you need to know about it.
12:26 It will be a very insightful conversation.
12:29 Will it be streamed live on your Facebook, UPSA?
12:32 Yes, on our other platforms.
12:34 All right, here on Joy as well.
12:35 On Moati as well.
12:36 We want to cover it live.
12:38 Before we leave, we want to also thank our sponsors.
12:41 Right, please go ahead.
12:44 Headline Sponsor, Abokobi Royal Bank,
12:47 and Safety Insurance, Brokers Insurance as well.
12:51 And Your Good Self, and your institution as well.
12:55 Right, it's a pleasure to have you here.
12:56 So we'll make a date with you at 11am at the UPSA West Wing of the Auditorium.
13:02 Who will be speaking?
13:04 So we are expecting Professor Vladimir Entridanso,
13:07 based on international relations.
13:09 We are expecting Dr. Naa Hassan,
13:13 Danny Famaly of Stambeg.
13:14 We are expecting from the West African Monetary Institution.
13:19 And we are expecting Mr. Seth Omuakun
13:23 from the Financial Intelligence Centre.
13:25 Especially within the space we find ourselves,
13:27 financial intelligence.
13:29 So it's going to be a wonderful and insightful discussion.
13:31 And we are going to have two parts.
13:33 We have the panel presentation.
13:34 We have the discussion section,
13:37 and questions and answers as well.
13:38 So questions that viewers are unable to ask now,
13:41 they can ask us through our social media handles.
13:43 And also physically present,
13:45 they will have the opportunity to ask their questions.
13:47 Fantastic. Thank you so much, Prof and Doc,
13:49 for joining me this morning.
13:51 To shed more light on the UPSA's Currency Development Dialogue Series,
13:58 Professor Isaac Boedji is Dean Faculty of Accounting and Finance at the UPSA.
14:02 And Dr. Eric Boateng-Yadrom is Senior Lecturer,
14:04 Faculty of Accounting and Finance at the same university.
14:07 So 11am is the time you want to stay glued to your TV set,
14:11 for more on that.
14:12 Well, when I come back, I'll be talking to the winner
14:14 of the maiden edition of Qs and Lyrics,
14:16 Dragan Ivesbey.
14:18 (MUSIC)
14:20 (MUSIC)