The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has inaugurated its first branch in Juba, South Sudan. The bank was launched under the name of the National Bank of Egypt Juba after the bank obtained the permission of the Central Bank of Egypt and the Central Bank of South Sudan.
Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and Chair of the Ministerial Economic Cluster James Wani Igga stressed the depth of the Egyptian-South Sudanese strategic relations, which he described as historical relations. He indicated that the first session of the Higher Joint Committee held in Cairo in July 2021, resulted in many memoranda of understanding across various fields, including electricity, water, agriculture, higher education and other fields.
The South Sudanese Vice President welcomed the holding of the second round of the committee in the capital, Juba, during the current year.
He also stressed that the opening of the National Bank of Egypt Juba is the culmination of those distinguished relations between the two countries. Igga added that the new bank with its distinguished capabilities will represent a new impetus for banking work in the Republic of South Sudan, hoping that it will contribute to advancing development and investment efforts during the next stage.
Moses Makur Deng, Governor of the Central Bank of South Sudan, also expressed his pride in the presence of the National Bank of Egypt Juba.
He indicated that NBE is the largest Egyptian bank and that its presence supports plans aimed at developing cooperation between the two countries in various fields, especially the banking sector.
This will also facilitate further cooperation in the fields of agriculture. Irrigation, infrastructure, new and renewable energy and electricity generation, as well as joint projects to protect the Nile River and enhance its water resources.
Egypt and South Sudan also seek to enhance cooperation in the field of training and rehabilitation and support the South Sudanese capabilities in various fields, which works to accelerate the pace of integration among the countries of the African continent.
Egypt’s Ambassador to South Sudan Moataz Moustafa Abdel Kader said that the opening of the National Bank of Egypt Juba branch comes as part of Egypt’s efforts to assist South Sudan, under the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
He added that this also comes in line with the Egyptian efforts to support stability and peace building in various aspects.
“This is part of the Egyptian strategy aimiing to strengthen cooperation with fellow African countries, whether at the bilateral or regional level. Egypt has also taken many mechanisms to develop the volume of inter-relations to achieve more African cooperation and integration. Egypt has joined many economic groupings in Africa and has been interested on the economic level in enriching the added value of Africa’s natural resources and expanding the scope of intra-African trade,” the Egyptian Ambassador to South Sudan concluded.
South Sudan branch opening is part of NBE’s African expansion strategy
Vice Chairperson of the NBE Yahya Aboul Fotouh said that the bank’s presence in Juba achieves more cooperation and development in Africa.
The bank’s presence in Africa will provide various banking and advisory services to Egyptian companies that aim to invest in the African market to enhance imports and export between the various countries of the continent, which in turn is reflected on the Egyptian economy and national product.
Aboul Fotouh added that the National Bank of Egypt owns a network of branches and foreign representative offices, represented in two branches in China and the US, and three representative offices in Ethiopia, South Africa, and the UAE.
This is in addition to two affiliated institutions in the UK and Sudan and a network of correspondents in more than 80 countries around the world.
In October 2021, the Saudi Council of Ministers agreed to grant the National Bank of Egypt a license to open a branch of the bank in the kingdom after the NBE obtained a permit from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Aboul Fotouh stressed that the external expansion of the bank’s network of branches and institutions reflects the confidence and credibility that various financial institutions have in the bank, pointing out that the NBE always seeks to seize opportunities in promising markets, especially in Africa and the Arab region.
With that, it aims to gain a new base of customers and meet and support the needs of thousands of Egyptians working in these markets. This will contribute to supporting their remittances in addition to deepening cooperation between the countries of the continent and exchanging different experiences in the two banking sectors.
Recently, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) subscribed to increase the capital of the African Export and Import Bank (Afrexim Bank) with a value of $326.6m, paying the required 40% at a value of $130.6m.
This comes after Afrexim Bank invited shareholders to participate in increasing its issued capital by $6.5bn, of which it is currently paying 40% at a value of $2.6bn.
