The Egyptian Government has sought collaboration between African countries in the development of the financial sector in the region.
Speaking during a session held on the sidelines of the 29th meeting of the African Export-Import Bank Afreximbank in the Administrative Capital on Friday, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Rami Aboul Naga, said that numerous potential exists in the financial sector as the world evolves.Naga, who noted that the world of FinTech was moving at a steady pace, urged African countries to work together to surmount the challenge of the financial crisis threatening various
parts of the world.
On its part, Naga noted that the CBE was focusing its efforts and resources on modern technologies and artificial intelligence. To achieve this, Naga said that the CBE would support innovations by young people for an enhanced financial sector in the country.
Egypt has witnessed unprecedented growth in the FinTech industry over the last few years. As such, investments have soared by more than 300% during only the last 12 months, indicating the development & expansion of mature and scaled FinTech & FinTech-enabled startups.
In 2017, as part of efforts to modernize the financial sector and transform Egypt into a digital economy, the Government had sought to achieve financial inclusion and stimulate the use of electronic means and channels of payment.
Egypt’s plan for digital banking evolution led to the establishment of the National Payment Council (NPC).
The NPC was headed by its president, Abd El Fattah El Sisi.
Parts of its mandate were the development of a secure, efficient, and effective national payment system, enrollment of more citizens from the formal and informal sectors enrolled into the banking system, protecting of the rights of service providers and consumers, reducing the cost of fund transfers as well as achieving a competitive payment services market.
A 2021 Egypt FinTech Landscape Report had identified that the country holds a vast market with unbanked populations of almost 50%, limited technology savviness, 57.3% mobile internet users as a percentage of the total population, and limited trust in digital financial services.
The report had placed the country among the top 4 African countries and also ranked it second on the list of countries in the Middle East and North Africa in terms of FinTech investments and concentration of FinTech startups.
