Description

This report summarizes the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) technical assistance mission to the four Common Monetary Area (CMA) countries—Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa—focused on Project Sunbird, an initiative exploring the use of wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for enhancing cross-border payments within the CMA. The mission, conducted in October 2025, built upon prior virtual workshops and domestic assessments to develop a detailed roadmap for the next phase of wholesale CBDC exploration. The workshops identified challenges, such as persistent frictions in compliance, limited access to wholesale central bank money, and insufficient wholesale-focused diagnostics. The report recommended refining and revisiting use cases, updating the diagnostic framework, strengthening project governance, and expanding team expertise to effectively advance Project Sunbird's objectives.

More publications in this series: High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports