Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Signs the EBRD’s Code of «We-Fi»

Within the framework of promoting women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment, H.E. Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), signed the Code of “Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)” launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The initiative aims to facilitate access to finance for women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in addition to providing them with the essential technical support.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Mr. Jürgen Rigterink, First Vice President of the EBRD, Mr. Matteo Patrone, EBRD’s Vice President for Banking, and a number of CBE’s senior management officials.

On this event, H.E. Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the CBE, commended the launch of “Women Entrepreneurs Financing Initiative (We-Fi) in Egypt, affirming that it aligns with the state’s vision to promote women’s financial inclusion. It also comes in-line with the CBE’s ongoing efforts to enhance the accessibility to financing opportunities for women entrepreneurs, in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders. The projects and initiatives launched by the CBE lately, have resulted in achieving significant progress in women’s financial inclusion indicators, with the number of financially included women in Egypt reaching 20.3 million, representing a remarkable growth rate of 244%, from 2016 to 2023”.

From his side, Mr. Jürgen Rigterink, First Vice President of the EBRD confirmed that, “The Central Bank of Egypt has led the promotion of financial inclusion, especially with regard to availing finance to micro, small, and medium enterprises led by women, with EBRD’s commitment to support the CBE in this endeavor, through implementing the We-Fi initiative under CBE’s leadership as a multilateral platform to bridge the financing gap between genders in Egypt”.

The We-Fi initiative will provide technical support to build capacities of the Egyptian banking sector, financial service providers, and relevant entities – in coordination with the Egyptian Banking Institution (EBI), banks, and other state bodies. This technical assistance aspires to strengthen women’s financial inclusion and develop appropriate financial and non-financial products and services for them. The initiative will allocate funding to support women’s entrepreneurial efforts, to achieve gender equality, eliminate gender constraints, and reduce financing gaps for women entrepreneurs. It is noteworthy that “Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)” is a global multi-stakeholder partnership among 14 governments, 8 multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group. The initiative was launched by the EBRD in three Arab countries: Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan.