Salzburg Global Board Member Daniel Mminele talks about his Salzburg Global story
Daniel spoke to Salzburg Global during the Finance Forum, "Shaping the Future of Finance: Carbon Markets and Pricing, Digital Money and Financial Regulation." This program took place between June 13 and June 15, 2022.
Mako Muzenda, Salzburg Global Impact Fellow: How did you hear about Salzburg Global and what inspired you to become involved as a board member?
Daniel Mminele: “I got alerted to Salzburg Global through a former colleague and friend who used to be on the board. He was the deputy governor at the Bundesbank at the time when I was deputy governor in the South African Reserve Bank. We both were responsible for the international portfolios, which meant that we got to meet each other quite often. He started telling me about the (Salzburg Global) Seminar. I was quite surprised that I had never heard about it before. He said to me that the organization is reinventing itself and looking to change, in particular with regards to increasing its global visibility. Hitherto it has been essentially an Austrian-US affair and there was a deliberate effort to also diversify the board. And he says, 'look, given how I know you, the kind of work we've been involved in and the mission, I think there's quite a bit of compatibility there and I think you would like the place'. When I then started reading up about it I thought, wow, this is really a unique place. The programs, the content of it seems to me to be responding to the challenges that the world is facing. It seemed that this could be an interesting place for one to make a contribution. That then resulted in me having some conversations (…), and that culminated in me being invited to join the board. And that happened on the 17th of June (2021).
“Obviously it was a little bit different in the sense that you are joining a board in a remote setting. Having had the opportunity to come and experience the Schloss and experience the surroundings, the ambiance, the atmosphere and participate in the Finance Forum, I now start to get a sense and feel of what the magic is (…) that everybody is talking about. It's fantastic. It's good now to also get to know the colleagues on the board a little bit better. I've attended the first in-person board meeting that took place in March in London, but this is my first sort of visit to put into the philosophy.”
MM: Why is Salzburg Global still significant 75 years after it was first established?
DM: “Over the years, the (Salzburg Global) Seminar would have made sure that it stays and continues to stay relevant to its context, to what's going on around it, and to constantly ask that question of how do we bring future leaders and current leaders together? What are the pertinent issues that are on people's minds that we need to provide a forum for safe, constructive exchange? I would imagine that it is because of that that they've been constantly paying attention to making sure that they continue to create a space where people don't necessarily find answers to the questions that we're facing, but where you can help people, exchange views, and at the very least talk about how they think about the questions on the way to try to finding solutions.”
MM: What do you hope to impart in this space? What do you want to contribute and leave behind when you go back to South Africa?
DM: “As a contributor to the Finance Forum, I was on a panel on carbon markets and pricing. I shared a mini case study on South Africa and how South Africa is making a contribution to the global effort to address climate change as part of a response policy. I talked about the carbon tax and offset arrangements that have been put in place in South Africa. South Africa is highly dependent on fossil fuels, about 90% of its electricity generation on coal. There's been a deliberate effort as part of the contribution that was submitted to the COP26 conference to move away from that and to decarbonize the economy, to transition it to a low carbon economy and one that is more climate resilient. I was sharing in this particular space carbon tax and entitlement credits and how they can be offset and traded. That is one of those things which I think is very, very important. And similarly, I take back with me lots of discussions that I was part of where I learned a lot around the issues around digital currencies, in particular central bank digital currencies, issues around regulation, issues around how one takes these various changes and influences that are buffeting us. It's that rich exchange of being able to give something, but certainly lots to take back as well. This is a phenomenal space to be in and I'm very happy to have joined the board and I look forward to making the best contribution that I can to the work that is so important. I wish that as we go along, we continue to ensure that a voice that is heard, a voice that contributes to devising solutions to the challenges that we face.”
Daniel Mminele is the former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, and currently serves as the head of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team. He joined the Salzburg Global board in 2021 and participated in his first session as part of the Finance Forum.
