South Africa Puts Retail CBDC on Ice, Citing “No Strong Immediate Need”

South Africa’s central bank has announced that it will be retreat from the retail CBDC race-at least for now. In a paper released on Thursday, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said that there is currently no immediate need for a central bank digital currency, despite it being technically feasible.

SARB has emphasised the need to prioritize the modernizing of the country's payment infrastructure instead. These include reforms designed to broaden non-bank participation in the payments ecosystem — a move the bank believes can deliver more immediate improvements to financial inclusion and efficiency.

“While the SARB does not currently advocate for the implementation of a retail CBDC, it will continue to monitor developments and will remain prepared to act should the need arise.”

Going forward, the SARB will redirect its CBDC research toward wholesale applications and cross-border payment enhancements — areas it sees as more strategically relevant for South Africa’s financial system.

The research paper also examined how effective a retail CBDC would solve the painpoints in South Africa's payment landscape. One of which being how roughly 16% of adults in the country remains unbanked, highlighting ongoing inclusion challenges.

A retail CBDC, the SARB said, would need to meet or outperform cash in critical ways — including offline capability, universal merchant acceptance, low fees, ease of use, and strong privacy protections — to justify deployment.

In a recent report, the SARB voiced its cautious stance towards digital assets as a whole, saying how might create emerging risks to the country's technology-enabled financial innovation.

The bank warned that crypto could be used to bypass South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations, which govern how money moves into and out of the country.

Global CBDC Race Accelerates — But South Africa Hits Pause

While South Africa takes a more cautious route, the global CBDC landscape continues to expand. According to the Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker, only three nations have officially launched a CBDC — Nigeria, Jamaica and the Bahamas — but dozens more are pushing ahead.

There are 49 countries who have already run CBDC pilot programs, 20 countries are actively developing one, and 36 countries are researching a CBDC. The United States, meanwhile, has shelved its CBDC efforts under the Trump administration.

As other economies accelerate their digital currency agendas, South Africa is choosing a more measured approach — prioritizing wholesale innovation and regulatory caution over rushing a retail CBDC to market. For now, the digital rand remains a future possibility rather than an active policy priority.