Three major Egyptian banks launch $ 85m fintech fund under CSR

22 / 03 / 2022

By Ahmed Abdel Qawi - - | Edited by Marwa Nassar

A group of major national Egyptian banks – the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire – and Global Ventures company – a leading MEA-focused venture capital firm – announced the launch of Nclude fintech fund at dlrs 85 million.

Such unprecedented step falls within the framework of implementing the state’s strategic policy to support innovative youths who will shoulder the responsibility of building the future Egyptian economy.

Nclude Fund is meant to promote innovation in the field of financial technology and financial inclusion.
Banque Misr – as an anchor investor to the fund – contribute to the fund’s capital alongside the National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire as strategic investors. Other strategic investors also contributed to the fund, including E-Finance For Digital and Financial Investments (EFIH) and the Egyptian Banks Company.

The fund is expected to attract more investments from prominent regional and international investors in order to be the largest investment platform for emerging companies operating in the fintech score in Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa.

In addition to investing in existing start-ups, the fund will be supported by Shipyard Technology Ventures – a global venture builder that will bring its world-class development capabilities to the Egyptian market to help create Fintech start-ups that address local and regional opportunities.

Meanwhile, Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), said “This step falls within the framework of directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to support innovative youth in the field of fintech and its feeding sectors. It is also part of the CBE’s FinTech & Innovation Strategy which aims to create a pro-fintech environment and adopt more innovative fintech solutions capable of delivering banking and financial services to all segments of society more easily and at less cost. This would be a crucial step to transform Egypt into a regional center for the fintech industry in the Arab World and Africa.”

He added that the aforementioned strategy is based on key integrated pillars, which are represented in supporting fintech talents and young entrepreneurs, providing a stimulating legislative and regulatory environment for the fintech industry, in a way that achieves a balance between financial stability and unleashing innovation. Moreover, it should meet demand of fintech services and increase investments directed to fintech startups which represent a top priority.

For his part, Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the National Bank of Egypt, said “the Nclude Fund aims to sponsor early-stage fintech startups, and young fintech talent, who will help build the Egyptian economy in the future. In addition, the Fund targets creating an appropriate environment to attract, nurture, and localize talent in the Egyptian market to build creative Fintech solutions, while promoting innovation in the digital banking and financial services sector, to reach all segments of society with ease and efficiency.

This strategy will accelerate digital transformation and drive financial inclusion, in line with the Central Bank of Egypt’s pioneering vision to foster innovation in Fintech and Fintech-enabled sectors to ultimately achieve the goals of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and align with NBE’s strategy on digital transformation.”

Meanwhile, Mohamed El-Etreby, Chairman of Banque Misr, said “Banque Misr’s contribution to this Fund is a reflection of our commitment to keeping up with the pace of global developments in fintech – as it is the future of banking and financial services in Egypt and the world. This Fund will achieve many gains for the Egyptian Economy by supporting the country’s young fintech talents and creating the ideal environment for them to develop innovative solutions that will help deliver banking and financial services to all segments of society in a more efficient and affordable manner.”

This is an important step to transform Egypt into a finetech hub in the Arab and African region. It will also help raise financial inclusion rates and accelerate Egypt’s digital transformation, which is integral to delivering the Egypt Vision 2030, he added.

For his part, Tarek Fayed, Chairman and CEO of the Banque du Caire, said “The launch of this Fund creates a unique opportunity for investors, and entrepreneurs to come together and create scalable and affordable financial technology solutions. Such solutions will not only improve the quality of current services but will also create new services using cutting edge technology that leverages a data-driven approach to attract the underbanked and financially excluded segments of society.”
“This Fund has a strategic developmental angle that will benefit the Egyptian economy as a whole and position the country as a Regional Fintech Innovation hub, in line with the CBE.”