Payments between southern African countries are to be made easier after the central banks of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said they are hoping to create a new single payment and settlement system for the region.

Dave Mitchell, SA Reserve Bank national payment system department head, said 12 of the 15 states have implemented gross real-time settlement systems, which meant they now have the means of conducting immediate electronic settlements.

In an interview on Business Report, Mitchell said the SADC was hoping to set up a similar system to that being employed in the EU, ultimately resulting in one central bank, one multinational payment and settlement system and one currency.

Mitchell added, however, that he was not talking on behalf of the SADC and could not provide time frames for the goals.