Оңтүстік Африка аймағының ақша одағы

A Monetary Union
The Common Monetary Area (CMA) links South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini into a monetary union. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) includes all CMA members in addition to Botswana, which replaced the rand with the pula in 1976 as a means of establishing an independent monetary policy. The CMA facilitates trade and promotes economic development between its member states. Although the South African rand is legal tender across the CMA, the other member states issue their own currencies exchanged at par with it: the Lesotho loti, Namibian dollar and Swazi lilangeni. Foreign exchange regulations and monetary policy throughout the CMA continue to reflect the influence of the South African Reserve Bank.

The CMA, enacted in July 1986, originated from the Rand Monetary Area (RMA), which was formally established in December 1974; the signatories of the latter were South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. In that year Swaziland and Lesotho established their own national currencies, now called the lilangeni and the loti, respectively. In 1980 Lesotho established its own central bank and began issuing its national currency at a one to one rate to the rand. While the formal arrangements date back to 1974, they ultimately stem from informal arrangements spanning back to prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and when the South African Reserve Bank was formed in 1921, the South African pound became the sole circulating legal tender in the territories that today form the CMA alongside Bechuanaland (now Botswana). This arrangement continued when the South African pound was replaced by the South African rand in 1961. The lack of monetary policy discretion, a formal framework for consultation and sharing of seigniorage by South Africa for the smaller territories led to protracted negotiations which ultimately resulted in the formal 1974 agreement, however Botswana decided against joining the formalized arrangements and pursued an independent currency with its own central bank.