The size of the microfinance portfolio at Banque du Caire reached EGP 4.5bn at the end of December 2018, according to the bank’s Chairperson and Executive Director, Tarek Fayed.
Fayed stressed the importance of expanding the microfinance portfolio at Banque du Caire, based on the bank’s leadership in this experience which spans over 16 years, and the positive impact of these projects in supporting the economy and creating jobs for youth.
He explained that the funding injected toward these projects created about 700,000 jobs and sustainable projects, noting that Upper Egypt received 60% of the total funding. He pointed out that female breadwinners attained about 40% of the total loans, as the bank is keen on supporting them in establishing successful projects that would generate sustainable income for them.
At the beginning of 2019, Banque du Caire announced the launch of its most recent community training and employment projects for young people in Sohag governorate, in collaboration with Misr El Kheir Foundation, aiming to qualify and empower young people with technical skills as the main development axis, in addition to creating jobs for trainees so that they can earn sustainable income.
“This initiative complements the efforts of the bank in training and employment, and matches the bank’s vision and strategy aimed to support the national economy through empowering the youth, creating jobs for them, and providing them with training,” Fayed said.
He explained that selecting the governorate of Sohag for the implementation of the vocational training project for youth came according to the results of statistics, which indicated that the unemployment rate in Sohag governorate reached 10%, which accounted for 3.4% of total unemployment in Egypt.
In addition, Fayed pointed out that Banque du Caire’s vision and its strategic plan are based on the societal dimension in all policies and procedures, starting with the bank’s portfolio of banking products, which contribute to the creation of sustainable employment opportunities and projects for the various societal segments, notably youth and women.
Moreover, the bank’s chairperson stressed that the bank gives importance o Upper Egypt, both in terms of finance and social responsibility.
For her part, the Director General of Corporate Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Banque du Caire, Haidi El Nahas, said that the bank continuously monitors all beneficiaries of the initiative to provide support to its trainees, and to ensure the sustainability of employment opportunities or the sources of income after training.
She added further that Banque du Caire is providing the necessary training for some 210 trainees in sewing, handmade carpets, bamboo, leather and patchwork industries, which are based on the actual needs of the village residents.
Moreover, El Nahas stressed the interest of the bank in allocating a large percentage of training opportunities for young people in order to create a generation capable of production and innovation in the field of handicrafts, thus contributing to social development, giving top priority to supporting women and helping them in building their own independent financial entities.
Banque du Caire plays a prominent role in supporting social responsibility initiatives, which aim to provide assistance and support to all ideas and initiatives that contribute to the development of society in various vital sectors in the country, El Nahas concluded.
