Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Lobna Helal, and Chairperson and CEO of Banque du Caire, Tarek Fayed inaugurated two centres for the business development services under the Nile Pioneers Initiative, in the bank’s two branches in Al-Sadat city in Menoufiya and Al-Kawthar district in Sohag.
The initiative aims to encourage young people to establish successful projects and support small projects in the informal sector with technical and financial consultations in a way that legalises their situation. These centres provide entrepreneurs with technical support in all their development stages to turn ideas into reality and achieve the initiative’s goals.
The initiative’s goals also include empowering women economically, encouraging local industry, and expanding digital applications to meet the demands of the Egyptian market and create job opportunities.
Helal explained that the CBE encourages the banking sector to support the state’s efforts towards sponsoring small and medium enterprises. The CBE also targets expanding services provided to entrepreneurs, to include non-financial services, which represent one of the most important requirements for growth and sustainability of these projects.
She added that the initiative aims to spread across the country, providing services for entrepreneurs in their local communities.
Similarly, Fayed explained that this opening comes in line with the bank’s full support to the CBE’s initiatives, adding that it reflects his bank’s direction to expand in providing services to Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in all governorates, especially in Upper Egypt, and the Delta region.
Furthermore, he explained that Banque de Caire targets the establishment of a third specialised centre in Beheira in addition to more centres in 2020, to support entrepreneurs through a package of business development services.
Banque du Caire has sponsored a business incubator for five years in partnership with the Nile University under the name “Banque du Caire Centre for Exportation Excellence” to support the Egyptian export councils to help companies enter new international markets.
