Ghada Tawfik serves as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for Social Responsibility. She joined the CBE in October 2023 as Advisor to the Governor for Social Responsibility, before taking up her current post as a continuation of her pioneering career.

More Than 33 Years of Professional Experience

Ghada Tawfik has a long professional career spanning more than 33 years, during which she held many leadership positions with notable success. This qualified her to join the CBE's senior management team, where she oversees the bank's social responsibility portfolio and coordinates its management across the Egyptian banking sector.

Career in the Banking Sector

Before joining the CBE, Ghada Tawfik held a number of roles at BLOM Bank from 2007 to 2022, where she managed corporate communications and community development, as well as helping to maintain quality assurance standards.

She began her banking career in 2000 at Arab Banking Corporation, where she worked until 2006, about 6 years, helping to support institutional excellence and embed the principles of sustainable development.

Early Years With International Development Organizations

Before entering banking, she began her career in 1992, spending 8 years with international development organizations, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), where she helped Egypt's Ministry of Public Business Sector and the public sector prepare and implement privatization strategies, as well as reform the agricultural sector.

This phase helped build a rich professional background combining the ability to work with international institutions, institutional reform, and an understanding of banking and community activities. That experience became a firm foundation for her leadership of the social responsibility portfolio at the CBE.

Leading Social Responsibility at the Central Bank of Egypt

Since taking on the role, Ghada Tawfik has worked to turn development visions into practical initiatives, coordinating with all banks operating in Egypt to unify community efforts within the banking sector and direct them toward targeted development goals, with attention to the sustainability of their impact.

She has also helped strengthen partnerships between the public and private sectors and civil society organizations and broaden community participation, supporting the integration of national efforts and their capacity to deliver inclusive development.

From Scattered Initiatives to Strategic Community Investment

Since joining the CBE in 2023, Ghada Tawfik's approach has centered on developing the banking sector's approach to social responsibility, moving from scattered, traditional initiatives to strategic community investment.

The approach rests on the deliberate use of resources and their efficient allocation to tackle social problems in sectors aligned with the state's development priorities, with a focus on achieving tangible, scalable impact that makes results more sustainable and extends their reach.

This approach has been reflected in the development initiatives and interventions the banking sector has supported since 2023 in health, education and human capital development, economic empowerment and social inclusion, sport and culture, and greater employee participation in volunteering.

Supporting the Presidential Initiative to End Waiting Lists

In the health sector, Ghada Tawfik helped conclude the partnership between the CBE and the Medical Emergency Fund to support the presidential initiative to end waiting lists.

The partnership aimed to provide an organized mechanism for directing resources toward reducing waiting lists in high-cost specialties, including heart and joint surgery, for citizens not covered by health insurance.

The partnership cut the number of patients on heart surgery waiting lists by 50%, covered all registered corneal transplant cases, and provided 4,000 joints from the medical supplies needed for orthopedic surgery.

Building on these results, the second phase of the initiative was launched to expand the range of supported medical interventions, including brain stents.

Developing University Hospitals and Sustaining Their Services

Ghada Tawfik worked to establish and develop the ongoing strategic partnership between the CBE and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to support the development of university hospital services and respond to their needs.

These efforts covered the National Cancer Institute, Ain Shams University's Medical City and Mansoura University's Liver Surgery and Transplant Center.

This approach focused on widening the concept of support beyond funding to include developing operating policies and strengthening financial sustainability.

One example of this approach is the Liver Transplant Center at Mansoura University, which offers paid services in foreign currency to foreign patients, helping to generate resources to fund free treatment for those eligible.

Equipping Intensive Care Units at Health Ministry Hospitals

Her efforts included expanding support for Ministry of Health and Population hospitals by directing banking-sector resources toward equipping vital units, foremost among them intensive care complexes.

This support included equipping 18 intensive care complexes in various governorates, including in Upper Egypt, with work under way to launch a second phase to sustain the support and strengthen these units' ability to keep providing quality free services to the citizens most in need.

Supporting the Atfalna Sokkar Presidential Initiative

Ghada Tawfik worked to direct banking support to the Atfalna Sokkar presidential initiative, which assists children with type 1 diabetes from families most in need of care.

The initiative aimed to spare children the pain of repeated finger-pricking and ease the financial burden of continuous monitoring devices by providing advanced needle-free glucose monitors.

The partnership provided these devices to 2,000 children in the first phase, with the second phase expanding to cover an additional 3,000 children.

Supporting Specialized Medical Centers and Hospitals

Her efforts extended to directing banking-sector support toward closing gaps in free specialized medical services, by helping to build and equip medical facilities in various fields.

These projects included the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Center in Sheikh Zayed City; Ahl Masr Hospital for free burns treatment, which her biography describes as the first fully integrated facility of its kind in the Middle East; and Baheya Hospital in Sheikh Zayed for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer.

This track reflects a focus on widening access to specialized care and supporting medical institutions that serve those in need.

Education and Human Capital Development

Ghada Tawfik has worked to strengthen the banking sector's role in supporting education and human capital development through initiatives that offer outstanding educational opportunities to high-achieving students and develop young people's skills in line with future needs and the labor market.

This approach links access to quality education, capacity building and better employment prospects, boosting young people's contribution to economic and social development.

The Future Scientists Scholarship

Building on the experience and results of the university scholarships previously offered by the US aid program, the banking sector adopted a vision of investing in human capital by launching the Future Scientists Scholarship in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The scholarship aims to give high-achieving students who qualify for equal-opportunity support access to outstanding university education in vital, future-oriented fields aligned with labor market needs and national development priorities, strengthening their ability to compete and contribute to the Egyptian economy.

The scholarship is not limited to university tuition: it also covers the student's housing and living costs, along with comprehensive capacity building, helping them keep pace with rapid technological change, fostering innovation and scientific research, and enabling them to contribute in future to building a knowledge- and technology-based economy.

Developing Technical Education and Linking It to the Labor Market

As part of supporting the shift to a knowledge- and skills-based economy, the efforts included developing the technical education system, strengthening applied education models and linking education programs to the actual needs of the labor market.

This included work on developing the dual education model, which combines academic study with practical training, equipping young people with the skills needed to enter the labor market and helping to raise employment rates and improve the quality of technical education outcomes.

The efforts also included applying the dual certificate model, which allows graduates to obtain accredited certificates qualifying them to work in major factories in Egypt and in European markets such as Germany and Italy. The model has been rolled out to 15 schools, in cooperation with the industrial partner and the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

Developing Villages and the Neediest Areas

In community development, Ghada Tawfik has supported the banking sector's move toward a comprehensive, sustainable approach to developing villages and the neediest areas.

The approach focuses on supporting development initiatives and projects that improve citizens' quality of life and strengthen beneficiary communities' ability to achieve sustainable development, by addressing needs and tying support to the conditions for continuity and growth.

Economic Empowerment and Creating Opportunities

Given the importance of creating sustainable opportunities, the initiatives focused on economic empowerment by supporting small and micro enterprises, boosting job opportunities and building the capabilities of families, young people and women.

These efforts aim to increase self-reliance and enable beneficiaries to move from receiving support to taking an active part in development, by gaining the skills, tools and opportunities that help them secure sustainable sources of income.

Social Inclusion and Empowering People With Disabilities

Ghada Tawfik has steered banks toward expanding social inclusion efforts for people with disabilities and supporting their financial independence, in cooperation with civil society organizations.

These efforts included providing assistive devices and modern prosthetic limbs, as well as specialized training, including Braille training, and support for financing small projects suited to beneficiaries' needs and abilities that provide them with a sustainable income.

This approach combines meeting support needs, developing skills and opening economic opportunities, strengthening community participation and financial independence.

Sport and Culture as Avenues for Empowerment and Identity

Ghada Tawfik's efforts included directing banks to support projects that strengthen the role of sport in empowerment and social inclusion, including sponsoring swimming teams and Paralympic champions with disabilities.

In culture, the efforts focused on strengthening national identity and sponsoring major events. Areas of support included the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum, while the World Equestrian Championship was among the sporting events supported.

Embedding a Culture of Volunteering in the Banking Sector

Ghada Tawfik has worked to strengthen a culture of volunteering within the banking sector and to give employees opportunities to take part in the field in development projects and activities, by launching initiatives that encourage them to contribute directly to serving the community.

Prominent among these initiatives is "El Eid Farha" (Eid Is Joy), which collects Eid clothes and distributes them to the neediest families, and "Together We Make an Impact", which lets banking-sector employees take part in development projects, including packing Ramadan food boxes. The efforts also include the "Empowerment… A Step" initiative, which supports the economic empowerment of small exhibitors by organizing seasonal bazaars for their products at bank premises, giving them opportunities to display and market their products and widen their customer base.