• Financial inclusion strategy and data
  • Microfinance
Nov 13, 2014

Deputy Prime Minister highlights importance of common vision ahead of roundtable discussion on Financial Inclusion

Within the framework of cooperation between GIZ’s Programme for the “Promotion of the Microfinance Sector in the MENA Region” and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and Egypt’s Social Fund for Development (SFD) for the purpose of promoting Financial Inclusion (FI) in Egypt, the partner institutions’ organized a roundtable discussion on October 29th in Cairo.

The event which brought together  policy  makers  and  other  key  industry  actors  initiated a discussion around  a  shared vision for Financial Inclusion in Egypt.  It also built a greater understanding among key stakeholders supporting the MSME sector and the legal and regulatory implications for this wider approach.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Ziad Bahaa Eldine, Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation who highlighted the importance of developing a common vision for financial inclusion with the ultimate goal of poverty eradication and access to finance for the poor.

The event tackled various topics among which is examining modalities for building a shared vision for financial inclusion and consolidating the different concepts of development partners and decision makers, identifying key opportunities and challenges that face the sector from the legal and regulatory frameworks, and reviewing experiences of other countries in this area.

Key speakers during the event included the chairmen of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and Egypt Post as well as the Head of the Regulations Unit at the Central Bank of Egypt and the Business Development Director from the Egyptian Banking Institute, World Bank.  This is in addition to representatives from the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs, the Egyptian Microfinance Network and numerous microfinance institutions, banks and international organizations from the field.

By Mehrechane Nayel