In light of the presidential directives to support Egyptian-African cooperation and integration, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) conducted a training program for calibers from the Central Bank of Djibouti (CBD) covering the latest operational systems employed in key areas for central banks, including the “International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS)” in Egypt – a primary data source for compiling balance of payments – in addition to the letters of credit and payment systems.

The delegation’s visit during the period from 28 to 30 October, 2024, comes as a part of the comprehensive training program aimed at developing skills and exchanging expertise between the two sides. The training sessions were conducted with the participation of number of commercial banks operating in Egypt to enrich the training through the provision of practical expertise.

In this regard, three of CBE’s representatives were appointed to provide on-the-ground training to CBD professionals Djibouti. Furthermore, the CBE has organized several virtual courses that explore a number of banking-related topics such as “Banks’ Restructuring and Banking Resolution”, “The Implementation of International Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Standards,” “Stress Testing,” in addition to “Transition to the ISO 20022 Swift Messaging System.”

The training program provided a comprehensive overview of the mechanism for compiling international transactions and the various systems used to transmit data to the CBE’s database, as well as review and audit processes in accordance with the system designed and developed by the CBE’s experts. The program also featured a presentation on Egypt’s balance of payments and the mechanisms for preparing data related to the ITRS, alongside addressing relevant issues and proposed steps for the CBD to implement this system.

The organization of the training program was facilitated by the Arab Academy for Management, Banking and Financial Sciences (AAMBFS) under the auspices of Dr. Mustafa Hodeib, and Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented by the Ambassador Mr. Khaled Al-Shazly, the Egyptian Ambassador to Djibouti. The Djiboutian side commended the training courses offered by the CBE, highlighting the excellent organization and expressed their keeness to holding more training programs to further strengthen the ongoing exchange of expertise between the two parties.