Maputo — The Governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Rogério Zandamela, has called for greater literacy among Mozambican citizens on digital banking, taking into account that cyber attacks are a reality that jeopardize the national economy.
According to Zandamela, who was speaking on Monday at the ceremony marking the start of the Single National Payment Network - which intends to modernize the National Payment System and boost electronic transactions in the country - cyber attacks are a real phenomenon "from which we are not exempt.'
"Consolidating this platform requires everyone's collaboration in permanently monitoring cyber and technological risks, as well as increasing levels of digital literacy, so that the entire population can benefit from this unique gain in our payment system. Cyber risks are real', Zandamela said.
The introduction of the Single Network, according to the governor, meets the goals of the creation of the Interbank Society of Mozambique (SIMO), unifying all electronic payment networks.
"Banks and other financial institutions must be ready, both in technological and human terms, to respond to these challenges. This process of migration and integration of the new platform brings a set of challenges that require a prompt and timely response from all of us, in order to guarantee efficient and effective communication with the general public. This is very important', Zandamela said.
"We all have an obligation to communicate properly with the public in the interests of the system and in the public interest', he added.
The governor, explaining the importance of cyber security, took as an example what happened in Lesotho, when the banking system broke down.
"You may have followed what happened less than a week ago to the Central Bank of Lesotho, where the payment system broke down, paralyzed, as a result of a cyber attack and they were held hostage by those who were asking for money so that the system could be restored. That's why we're all called upon to collaborate. It was the central bank, but it could have been a peripheral unit. They stayed paralysed for days and I don't know if they've recovered yet', he said.
