The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Sub Governor for Payment Systems and Information Technology Ayman Hussein, said, on Sunday, that the CBE aims to transform Egypt into a regional centre for electronic financial services.

Hussein announced the bank’s fintech strategy, during the session on the impact of financial technology and innovation on Africa, on the sidelines of the Arab African Forum, which kicked off on Saturday in Aswan.

“Egypt has the success factors that qualify it to pioneer in the financial technology industry, including the huge demand for financial services, strong banking sector, telecommunications companies, electronic payment companies, insurance companies, regulatory institutions, incubators, business accelerators, investors, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) financiers,” he added.

To do so, the CBE’s strategy has identified several initiatives, including the establishment of an EGP 1bn innovation support fund to finance emerging financial technology startups, the establishment of the Central Bank’s Financial Technology Unit, he explained.

Additionally, Hussein clarified that a new Innovative Financial Technology Applications Lab is to be established, to act as a sandbox for new applications, balancing innovation with risk reduction, while ensuring customer protection.

Furthermore, he stressed the importance of enhancing cybersecurity, providing the necessary protection for customers, and building confidence in digital financial services.

Hussein revealed the launch of the Cybersecurity Centre for the banking sector in late 2019, which will be responsible for taking proactive measures to deal with cyber-security-related incidents and save digital forensic evidence.

“The issuance of Meeza card, and the promotion of mobile payment services, are a huge success for the CBE” he remarked.

The number of mobile phone wallets have currently reached over 12m wallets, with a growth rate of 36% in 2018, and a total annual transaction value of EGP 11.7bn.