The Central Bank of Egypt Wins Two AFI Global Financial Inclusion Awards

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) wins two international awards for its outstanding contributions for promoting financial inclusion and supporting economic empowerment for individuals and businesses. CBE won two of the five AFI Global Alliance for Financial Inclusion Awards, the Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award and the Technical Leadership Award in the Arab region. CBE was also honored for reaching the final qualifier stage of the “Maya Declaration Commitments Award”, which was awarded for demonstrating commitment to financial inclusion. 

AFI held its 13th annual conference in the Philippines, in September 2023, where the CBE was presented by a delegation. AFI includes in its membership more than 86 financial institutions, central banks, and supervisory authorities from 82 countries.

Awarding CBE for the fourth consecutive year, comes as a result of the significant support provided by various state institutions concerned with financial inclusion. In addition to fruitful collaboration with all stakeholders on both international and local levels. Such collaborations had a remarkable impact on achieving recognized results and reflected the magnitude of the efforts exerted to support Egypt’s Vision 2030, particularly with the provision of digital financial and banking services to all segments of society, which will positively affect financial inclusion rates.

The first award granted to CBE was the “Global Youth Financial Inclusion Award”, which was granted to the bank’s achievements in promoting financial inclusion for the youth category, who constitute over 50% of the financial inclusion target population in Egypt. CBE supported numerous projects and initiatives targeting youth, in addition to issuing a regulatory framework to support youth financial inclusion. This framework includes permitting the opening of bank accounts from the age of 16, a simplified Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, the facilitation of opening “Economic Activity Accounts” for businesses without a commercial registry or tax card, as well as launching electronic financial products and conducting financial literacy campaigns in schools and universities. CBE also provided services and support for entrepreneurs, including non-financial services.

Moreover, CBE was granted the “Technical Leadership Award” on the Arab regional level for the distinguished technical expertise contributed by Mr. Khaled Bassiouny, the General Manager of the Financial Inclusion Department in the Central Bank of Egypt, for his technical contribution in the various events of the Alliance (conferences, workshops, and training sessions with the participation of member countries). His efforts also include delivering case studies on specialized technical topics related to financial inclusion, such as financial inclusion for women, youth, and residents in rural areas, as well as his active participation in technical working groups, including the “Financial Inclusion Strategies and Peer Learning” working group.

The CBE also reached the final qualifier stage among 5 other nominated countries for the “Maya Declaration Commitment Award”, which recognizes the fulfillment of commitments in the field of financial inclusion and poverty alleviation, through moral pledges determined by AFI members annually, and regularly updating their implementation progress towards achieving these pledges, until full implementation. Those commitments include; reducing the gender gap in providing financial services, increasing the rate of financial inclusion for youth, and promoting financial literacy, among others. The award was named after the city of Maya, in Mexico, where this initiative was launched.

In 2013, the CBE joined AFI, which was established in 2008. The Alliance aims to develop the tools utilized to promote financial inclusion, exchange technical and practical experiences between countries, and support the formulation and implementation of financial inclusion policies and strategies.