Foreign exchange reserves are, in the final analysis, a cushion to withstand both cyclical and unanticipated shocks. Therefore, reserve adequacy may be a necessary condition but not a sufficient one for speeding up financial liberalisation.
This also requires exploiting opportunities generated by regionalism. The recent global financial crisis provides more lessons for Africa on the need to strengthen continental cooperation. As the global crisis unfolded, the developed countries saw a need to coordinate their policies with strong emerging economies under the aegis of the G20.