I am Akura Mugyenyi, am I am studying the MSc Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation at Warwick Business School. I have been a central banker at the Bank of Uganda based in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda – the Pearl of Africa, since 2002. I have performed diverse roles across the Economic Research and Communications departments as well as the Governor’s office.
The knowledge, skills and attitudes that enabled me to perform my roles were drawn from disparate sources and places, none of them sufficient on its own. Central banking is interdisciplinary, even complex; yet there has been no world-class advanced course aimed at producing professionals with the all-round expertise that is required of modern central bankers. Moreover, fluency in communication across the remit or core areas has become critical to central bank leadership and securing public support for central banks.
Aspiring to attain a high office in central banking in my country and region, I seized the first opportunity to study for the MSc Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation developed in collaboration with the Bank of England so as to hone, consolidate and advance my knowledge, skills and competencies as a central banker. I chose to study for the programme in order to gain fluency in central banking; to be one of the best among the cadre of professional central bankers.
That I could pursue this masters degree without any absence from my work and family, was the ultimate gift that I intend to ensure keeps giving by deploying the learning to peak performance in my work. Already, I am able to see the value of the teaching on this course because it has helped to clarify the foundations of some of the things that I already partly knew, to flesh the ideas and concepts out fully, and even start to see the direction of their future development. As a speechwriter for my principal, this training is already proving invaluable in enriching the story structure of the central banking topics that I write about in speech drafts.
I cannot complete this course soon enough, for there will be no better way to demonstrate my mastery of central banking in supporting my ambitions for the leadership of my central bank and in my region. This masters degree will propel my career progression because central banks are seen as repositories of expertise and I will possess the passport.
I believe that central banking is a unique endeavour, requiring a multidisciplinary set of skills and body of knowledge, that may not be properly acquired other than through a deliberate program of training. No longer is it adequate to simply be an economist, or finance expert, or lawyer, or administrator, to be a world-class central banker because central banking has evolved in such a way that general skills or otherwise transferable skills might not suffice. As such, I would recommend studying for the MSc Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation to everyone aspiring for a career in central banking and closely related fields.