Central Bank governor Pierre Laporte gave the details during an interview after his counterparts from the other 14 SADC countries had updated Seychelles’ officials on steps taken on this project since Seychelles temporarily left the regional body.

Mr Laporte said the idea will be to have a common currency the way Europe has the euro, “but it will not be compulsory since the UK, for example, retained the pound sterling despite being a member of the European Union”.

The SADC delegation began their series of meetings here on Tuesday, led by Mshiyeni Belle who heads the Committee of Central Bank Governors’ secretariat.

Mr Belle said there is a committee working to harmonise the laws governing the central banks, which has come up with a model that we can use to modernise the Central Bank of Seychelles Act.

He added that the SADC is improving its central banks website and offering training for officials while modernising payment systems to make them faster.

“The main central bank would deal with regional policy issues, but the national central banks would remain to work at national level,” he said.

Hurdles that will have to be overcome include the fact that some countries belong to other regional bodies, with Tanzania being part of the East African Community while Seychelles and Mauritius are also members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and of the Indian Ocean Rim association.