At the end of July, the governor of Namibia’s central bank, Johannes !Gawaxab, together with six members of his management team from the Bank of Namibia, visited the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences in Hachenburg. The guests were accompanied by Eugen Cleveland, the Deutsche Bundesbank’s representative in South Africa. On the agenda were an introduction to the University and its study programme and a professional exchange with lecturers.

Interesting insights for both parties

© Andreas Kremer

After being welcomed to the university by Deputy Rector  Andreas Kremer and Head of Studies Christof Wolf, the guests were given an introductory presentation on the dual study programme “Bachelor of Science in Central Banking”. The Namibian central bank does not offer a comparable study programme, but as a large number of young people grow up speaking German in Namibia, Governor !Gawaxab was extremely interested in both the bilingual study programme and potential future cooperation between the two central banks. After the presentation of the study programme, the guests were also able to get a glimpse of academic life during a tour of the campus.

In their subsequent discussions with university professors, the guests’ questions focused mainly on central bank-related topics, in particular on monetary policy, financial stability, banking supervision and innovations in payment systems, but also on topics such as digital currencies, digital transformation and sustainability. Of particular interest to the members of the delegation was how lecturers managed to integrate current topics into the course curriculum in a timely manner.

In addition to the discussion of the course content, there was also sufficient time for face-to-face chats between the Namibian visitors and the university lecturers. The guests were thus able to learn more about their teaching and research fields while the Hachenburg teaching staff gained interesting insights into the organisation and core tasks of the Bank of Namibia. In his summation of the visit to Hachenburg, Governor Johannes !Gawaxab emphasised the important contributions the University makes to society and how it thus actively shapes the future of young people.