Via VoxEU, Thorsten Beck, Michael Fuchs and Marilou Uy argue that Africa's financial stakeholders - bankers, donors and policymakers - must take the lead in implementing financial sector reforms in a way that maximizes Africa's opportunities:
Although the direct impact of the current crisis in the US and Europe on African financial systems is relatively contained – given that African banks are not as closely integrated in the global financial system as other regions of the developing world and hold most of their assets and commitments on rather than off the balance sheet – indirect effects through reduced real economic activity and reduced private capital inflows caused by reduced risk appetite might very well have negative repercussions for the real and financial sectors in Africa. Critically, the current crisis has put the debate on the appropriate role of government in the financial sector and the benefits and pitfalls of globalisation on policymakers’ agenda again. We will argue that it is important to study carefully past experience both in the region and other parts of the developing and developed world.
Beck et. al briefly expound on various approaches to the role of government in Africa's financial sectors - from activist to modernist, market-developing and market-enabling - and further explore the challenges and opportunities brought with the integration of African banks into international financial markets. Little is offered in the way of policy advice, other than to say that the strains placed on African markets as a consequence of the global market call for "further institution building as well as cautious and context-specific government intervention to help financial market participants expand financial services to the frontier of commercially sustainable possibilities." Yes: Quite right.