Nairobi — Kenya and South Sudan have partnered in an arrangement aimed at strengthening the capacity of their central banks.

Under the arrangement, Kenya will support the Central Banks of South Sudan in what is aimed at building its capacity to play its role as a lender of last resort.

The deal was officially signed last week by Kenya's Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung'u and his South Sudanese counterpart Komelio Korom, the governor of the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS). This follows a meeting between the two governors in Juba last week.

In achieving the goals of the memorandum, the two institutions unveiled a technical working team tasked with presenting an interim report by March next year.

"The two teams have agreed on a raft of initiatives aimed at ensuring that South Sudan enjoys a seamless financial system within the short term. Timelines in the memorandum will be a major thing to observe," said Prof. Ndung'u.

The technical team will among other things among other things organize internship opportunities, in-house training and a number capacity building initiatives for employees on the Bank of South Sudan. The trainings will be held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS) in Ruaraka Nairobi.

Since attaining its independence in 2011, the government of South Sudan has embarked on a number of initiatives aimed capacity building within major institutions.

The new government faces serious challenges among them financial inclusion with a recent report indicating that less than 10 per cent of the total population has access to banking services.

Kenya's central bank is one of the most robust in the Eastern Africa region.