Banking
From The Report: Egypt 2016
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Benefitting from the nation’s increasing economic stability over the past year, Egypt’s banks have enjoyed both ratings upgrades and continued profitability. Thanks to an ambitious government development strategy and new investment legislation, the project finance pipeline is returning to form after a period of muted activity. Elsewhere on the aggregate loan book, competition is heating up to serve a largely untapped retail segment and the nation’s challenging, but potentially rewarding, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment. With only 14% of the adult population owning or sharing an account at a formal financial institution, according to a 2014 survey by the World Bank and Gallup, the banking sector has much potential. A low median income plays a part in modest banking penetration. Yet the Egyptian economy contains significant investable liquidity, as was shown in September 2014 when LE64bn ($8.7bn) was raised in Suez Canal development certificates in a week, mostly through individuals. How banks approach this largely untapped market is a very compelling question

This chapter contains an interview with Dante Campioni, CEO and Managing Director, ALEXBANK. 

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

On a steady footing: Loans, deposits and assets have grown, while project finance is picking up speed thanks to the government’s development plan
OBG
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Benefitting from the nation’s increasing economic stability over the past year, Egypt’s banks have enjoyed both ratings upgrades and continued profitability. Thanks to an ambitious government development strategy and new investment legislation, the project finance pipeline is returning to form after a period of muted activity. Elsewhere on the aggregate loan book, competition is heating up to serve a largely untapped retail segment and the nation’s challenging, but potentially rewarding, small…

Interview

Opening up: OBG talks to Dante Campioni, CEO and Managing Director, ALEXBANK
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Interview:Dante Campioni What is the potential of the retail banking market, and where do you see room for growth? DANTE CAMPIONI: ALEXBANK affirmed its leading position in Retail loans with a market share close to 8%, occupying the first place among private sector banks in terms of market share. The retail market offers strong opportunities for growth and is an area in which we have historically been very active. According to a household survey released in late 2014 by the World Bank, only…

Analysis

A renewed pipeline: There is significant potential for project financing
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Egypt’s robust banking sector has survived the economically turbulent period that followed the 2011 revolution remarkably well. High-quality asset bases and generous capital buffers have enabled financial institutions to support the nation during this challenging period, most notably through the purchase of large volumes of Treasury bills (T-bills), which assisted the government in meeting its fiscal obligations. A Balanced Approach However, while banks have benefitted from the high yields that…

Analysis

An active approach: A number of measures have been taken to tackle the parallel currency exchange market
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The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has battled to rein in an emerging parallel market in currency exchange since 2011, when political turbulence saw the Egyptian pound lose 13.4% of its value against the US dollar, an occurrence which, in turn, greatly effected the wider economy. Hisham Ezz Al Arab, chairman and managing director of Commercial International Bank, told OBG, “Given that 70% of Egypt’s trade with non-US partners is conducted using dollars, the currency’s recent appreciation has had…

Analysis

Small business, big potential: Banks are looking to boost SME lending
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Successive governments and central bank governors have highlighted the importance of extending credit to Egypt’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and in early 2015 Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab declared a renewed determination to support SME growth in a speech which called attention to the funding difficulties faced by small businesses. Although lending to SMEs by Egypt’s banks remains at the incipient stage, an examination of the largest public and private players shows some encouraging…