Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), welcomed Dr. Alfred Hannig, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), on Monday, 7^th of April, 2025, in the presence of a number of CBE’s officials.

The Governor commenced the meeting by expressing his appreciation for the fruitful cooperation between the CBE and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, through availing access to learn from the international best practices in the field of financial inclusion, and supports the exchange of scientific expertise with central banks and relevant regulatory authorities in member states.

Mr. Abdalla also showcased the strides achieved by the CBE, in cooperation with the banking sector and relevant ministries and authorities, in line with the Egyptian state’s vision to achieve economic empowerment for all segments of society, especially women, youth, Persons with Disabilities (PWD’s), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and entrepreneurs. These achievements were built up on the foundation of an accommodating legislative and regulatory ecosystem, and the launch of incentive initiatives, which contributed to increasing financial inclusion rates in Egypt to reach 74.8% by the end of 2024.

For his part, Dr. Hannig, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) commended Egypt’s pioneering experience as a front runner in financial inclusion and sustainable finance, acknowledging its advancements in this field as a role model. He stated that AFI is actively collaborating with the CBE to extend this expertise to various countries through facilitating peer to peer knowledge exchange to benefit from the CBE’s efforts in this regard.

Worth mentioning, in 2013, the CBE joined AFI, which was established in 2009. The Alliance comprises over 90 financial institutions, central banks, and regulatory bodies from 83 countries. AFI aims to develop the tools utilized to promote financial inclusion, exchange technical and practical experiences between countries, and assist members in the formulation and implementation of economic policies and reform strategies.