CBE Supports Women’sEmpowerment to Expand their Businesses

• “FinTech Egypt” Launches "Women for Women in FinTech" Initiative 
• • The Six-month Initiative Aims to SupportFemale Entrepreneurs to Capitalize on theEmbedded Finance Programs

Within the framework of the banking sector’sunwavering efforts to support and empower women, “FinTech Egypt” – an initiative by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) –launched the " Women for Women in FinTech" initiative, with the aim of providing innovative FinTech solutions to support women entrepreneurs across various sectors in expanding their businesses.

The initiative which commenced in March, 2024, and is planned to resume for six months, provides womenentrepreneurs with intensive training sessions and workshops in different fields, to highlight the significance of FinTech, as well as directing entrepreneurs to adopt innovative FinTech solutions in their businesses. Notably, ‘Women for Women in FinTech’ is under the umbrella of “Accelerate'ha" initiative, inaugurated by the CBE in 2021 to accelerate the pace of developing innovative FinTech solutions that meet the needs of women entrepreneurs.

Mr. Rami Aboulnaga – Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt - stated that, “This initiative comes within the framework of CBE’s FinTech strategy, and contributes to the efforts that aim to localize FinTech applications, through supporting the unique potentialsand talents of entrepreneurs, and specifically female entrepreneurs. The initiative also aims to equip womenwith the skills to use FinTech applications and achievethe right matchmaking between startups and banks viathe “Embedded Finance” solutions to increase the long-term growth and success opportunities for startups, especially in light of the continuous development of the digital economy, and the subsequent increased reliance on FinTech innovations”. 

In the same context, women entrepreneurs will acquirethe necessary guidance and skills to implement the"Embedded Finance” solutions, which will greatly assist in business development and enable enterprisesto apply and capitalize on the embedding payment andembedded lending solutions.

Twelve startups were selected to participate in theinitiative, and deliver presentations for their new business proposals and visions regarding how to benefit from the embedded lending and paymentprograms. The selected entrepreneurs showcased their businesses’ domains to distinguished and experiencedwomen leaders from the CBE, the banking sector, as well as FinTech and FinTech enabled startups.

Subsequent to evaluating the presentations, the presenters will receive guidance from top womenleaders within the FinTech sector from the financial and banking industry, to assist the outstanding female entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses in the Egyptian market, as well as availing matchmaking opportunities to enable collaborations with participating banks for receiving full support. 

The program comes within the framework of the CBE’s proactive role in supporting and fosteringstartups, especially the women-led, with the aim toachieve economic and social empowerment for Egyptian women, in addition to encouraging female entrepreneurs to apply innovative FinTech solutions and develop their businesses.