Maria Juliana de Fontes Pereira spoke this Tuesday at the third edition of the Conference on Sustainability in Banking, promoted by the Angolan Banking Association (Abanc), which is being held under the theme "Sustainable Financing and the Importance of a Climate and Social Taxonomy for Angola".
According to the deputy governor of the central bank, cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the central bank of France has been essential to strengthening the internal capacities of the BNA, within the framework of its strategic pillars, corporate governance, policy, monetary, regulatory and prudential supervision.
"This support has allowed the BNA to develop robust tools and methodologies that ensure a transversal approach to sustainability, both in its internal operations and in the catalytic role it plays in the national financial system", stressed Maria Juliana de Fontes Pereira.
Speaking to the press, the deputy governor of the BNA said that the support provided is mainly related to training, the main focus of the Angolan central bank at the moment, to "level up the teams" and to pass on to the system new strategies acquired from these institutions, which are already very advanced in these areas.
In turn, the president of Abanc, Mário Nascimento, said that sustainability is no longer a marginal or niche issue, and is now a requirement of the markets, regulators, investors and future generations.
Mário Nascimento highlighted that the Angolan central bank has already published regulations, explicitly delivering environmental, social and governance factors in credit risk management, requiring annual sustainability reporting from banking institutions, while, on its own initiative, commercial banks are already publishing sustainability reports.
"In turn, we have begun to see demands from some international correspondents, namely clearing partners in USD [dollars] and euros, especially European and North American banks, which make the provision of financing lines conditional on robust environmental and social management processes", he highlighted.
According to the president of Abanc, the technical cooperation that some banks have with UFC shows that Angolan banks are already responding, anticipating the requirements of European directives and international best practices.
"These advances show that sustainability is no longer an option but a criterion for competitiveness, for access to capital, for maintaining correspondents and for strengthening investor confidence", he stressed.
Despite the progress, Mário Nascimento considered that there is a lack of a common language "that gives clarity to the market about what is or is not a sustainable activity in Angola".
Speaking to journalists, Mário Nascimento stressed that there is still no regulatory framework that addresses the issue of sustainability, there are only some requirements from the National Bank of Angola on this topic, namely the issue of climate and social risks, "but not within a structured framework".
For the president of Abanc, the issue of sustainability requires a common language, a guideline on the impact.
Referring to the situation of the Angolan banking sector, the president of Abanc stressed that the concerns coincide with the rest of the country's economy, namely economic development and growth.
According to the official, the banking sector has contributed to economic diversification, financing the real sector of the economy and empowering companies from a financial point of view.
