Chairperson and CEO of Banque du Caire, Tarek Fayed, said that an integrated strategic plan has been established since he took over the bank’s presidency in January 2018. It aims to expand the financing of all economic sectors to contribute to the sustainable economic development, expand the bank’s activity, and play a leading role in the market.
Fayed explained in his interview with Daily News Egypt that the strategy focuses on diversifying the bank’s credit portfolio to cover all important economic sectors, with an added value that has a genuine benefit to the economy, whether by financing large companies, or for small, medium and micro enterprises.
He stated that the bank’s vision and strategic plan is based on considering the social dimension in all policies and procedures adopted by the bank. The bank’s portfolio of banking products contributes toward the creation of sustainable employment opportunities and projects for various segments, notably youth and women.
“Banque du Caire achieved growth rates of 80% in financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 95% cent in micro-finance, and 60% in financing of major companies in 2018,” Fayed said.
He added that the bank aims to achieve growth rates ranging from 15% to 20% in the loan portfolio, from 10% to 15% in deposits, and from 15% to 20% in profits in 2019.
According to Fayed, the bank’s total loan portfolio reached EGP 60bn by the end of December 2018. Of these, EGP 8bn was directed to SMEs, EGP 31bn to corporates, and EGP 22bn to retail loans.
Furthermore, he indicated that the bank’s microfinance and SMEs portfolio is equivalent to about 13% of the bank’s total loan portfolio, stressing that the bank aims to expand the financing of these projects as part of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) initiative to reach the 20% of total loans by the end of 2019.
Fayed expressed that Banque du Caire has extensive experience in microfinance spanning over 16 years. It has a strong infrastructure and trained manpower to acquire a market share of up to 30% of the microfinance market, adding that the bank aims to expand and inject more direct loans to its customers and reach new segments of customers.
Moreover, he elaborated that the bank is currently preparing to provide mobile payment services to micro-entrepreneurs to facilitate the their payments.
“Banque du Caire aims to expand the opening of channels to encourage foreign trade operations, increase Egyptian exports, and support Egyptian exporters in order to enter foreign markets by opening channels to finance foreign trade with the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and increase the network of correspondent banks, with a focus on Africa,” Fayed said.
He added that the Banque du Caire in Uganda was also restructured, as well as the received approval to open a representative office in the UAE, and to open areas of finance and investment with Africa on the one hand, and with the UAE and Gulf countries on the other.
Regarding the bank’s plan to deploy electronic services, Fayed said the bank plans to launch the first smart branch in 2019, which relies on providing banking services using technology without having to deal with bank staff.
In addition, he added that the bank also plans to launch mobile and internet banking services and other services that are in line with the CBE’s strategy to promote digital banking services at the level of the banking sector, which has an impact on enhancing the principle of financial inclusion.
Currently, the bank is developing a comprehensive payment service through the mobile phone Cairo Cash, in addition to developing and deploying new ATMs to reach 1,100 from the present 700 by 2019.
Fayed announced that Banque du Caire is planning to open 29 new branches in the beginning of 2019, in addition to adding 20-25 branches annually in the coming three years, along with increasing the number of ATMs to 1,200 during 2019.
Fayed imparted that Banque du Caire has a plan to restructure and develop its branches to facilitate the efficient access of services in the shortest possible time, pointing out that this plan is not only limited to changing the framework, but also to improve customer experience.
