Luanda — Exposure to cyber risks by banking institutions and the current modernization of the Angolan financial system, has forced the National Bank of Angola (BNA) to develop robust cyber security strategies, its deputy governor, Maria de Fontes Pereira, said Thursday in Luanda.
Speaking at the opening of the conference on "Modernization of the Angolan Financial System," promoted by the BNA, Fontes Pereira stressed that the strategy is based on data protection policies and incident response mechanisms.
Pereira spoke of the importance of establishing instruments and measures to reshape the Angolan financial ecosystem, offering growing opportunities for expansion, speed and efficiency in the services provided by banking institutions.
The BNA said cyber security is one of the fundamental pillars that guarantee consumers' confidence and the integrity of the financial system, ensuring that innovation and digitalization are accompanied by effective measures to protect against cyber threats.
In order to efficiently monitor technological developments in the financial sector, the BNA official said the Central Bank is promoting meetings to exchange experience, with a view to guaranteeing good practices at international level, with a focus on modernizing the financial system, identifying benefits and strategies to mitigate risks from technological innovations.
The deputy director of the BNA's Financial Stability Department, Analdete Garcia, on her turn stressed that the banking institution's vision is focused on defining regulations in line with international best practices and benchmark financial markets, as well as implementing safe technological solutions driven by new technologies.
As for the challenges, Garcia said the focus is to review and adapt the regulations in force, change the model of traditional banking, adapt to digitalization, train human capital, strengthen control and management policies on banking activities to ensure the mitigation of financial crimes and safeguard reputational damage.
The conference addressed several issues , with emphasis on "Artificial intelligence in the supervisor-supervised relationship", "The evolution of Open Banking in the Portuguese market", "Timelessness and its impact on financial inclusion" and the "Kwik payment arrangement".
Held virtually, the event was attended by international experts who shared experiences and the reality of the financial market in the face of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence.
