The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) agreed to issue a license to Banque Misr to operate within the country.
Governor of the CBS Abdel Rahman Mohamed Abdullah said that Banque Misr will contribute significantly to strengthening the country’s financial system and economic growth in general.
He added that the CBS is committed to developing and maintaining the stability of the financial system in the country.
Banque Misr is the first foreign bank to operate in Somalia.
In response to a question by Daily News Egypt about the date of the bank’s entry into the Somali market, Mohamed Al-Etreby — Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Banque Misr — said that procedures are currently being completed in preparation for this step.
Al-Etreby said in previous statements that Banque Misr plans to establish a presence in several African countries over the coming period, including Somalia, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire, whether in the form of branches or representative offices, which contributes to strengthening trade relations between Egypt and the rest of Africa.
The bank also plans to open branches and representative offices in many countries to enhance its presence abroad. In the next five years, the bank aims to expand in the continent of Africa by establishing units affiliated with the bank in various forms in about 22 African countries.
Egypt also seeks to expand its cooperation and investment in Africa and create investment partnerships in all economic fields and sectors in implementation of the political leadership’s directives to open up to Africa, increase the rates of trade exchange, open markets for Egyptian exports and African imports in the Egyptian market, and activate the COMESA agreement.
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and Commercial International Bank (CIB) have recently been expanding their branches and representative offices in Africa.
The NBE has a presence in Ethiopia, South Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan. Meanwhile, the CIB, in April 2020, acquired 51% of the Kenyan Mayfair Bank. Additionally, Banque Du Caire is present in Uganda through the Cairo Kampala Bank, which the Egyptian Bank acquired 100% of.
Furthermore, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s time as the chair of the African Union witnessed great cooperation in the banking sector between Egypt and all African countries led by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
At the time, the CBE established the Export Credit Guarantee of Egypt (EGE) in Africa with a capital of $600m, it also established — for the first time — a department for African cooperation.
