The Central Bank of Egypt launched an initiative that will dedicate approximately $1.6 billion to fund Egypt’s microfinance industry. The new program is part of CBE’s broader financial inclusion strategy, which seeks to put new financial tools in the hands of those who are unbanked or underserved, especially women and young people. In Egypt, 52% of the population is under 25 years of age and 86 percent of people live without access to quality financial services, including savings accounts, insurance, and credit. The central bank now wants to make microfinance, which has proven to be an effective tool in reaching some of the world’s poorest, as a tool to reach out to the unbanked or the ‘missing middle’.
