NBE, Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and Banque Misr, sign a cooperation protocol with Ministry of Youth and Sports

 Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports, witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between the ministry and three national banks today; Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Agricultural Bank of Egypt, at Civil Education Center in Gezira.

The signing took place in the presence of Mohamed El-Etreby, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banque Misr, Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank, Alaa Farouk, President of Agricultural Bank of Egypt, Yahya Aboul Fotouh, Vice President of National Bank of Egypt, and Sherif Lokman, sub Governor for Financial Inclusion.

Also Ismail El FAR , head of the youth sector, who represented the ministry in signing the protocol, Major General Abd El Rahman Shalash, head of the central administration for the affairs of the minister’s office, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Batsh, assistant minister for youth policies and development.

In addition to Dr. Mohamed Abdel Qader, Head of the Central Administration for Youth Centres, Dr. Manal Jamal, Undersecretary of the Ministry and Head of the Central Administration for Youth Empowerment, and Dr. Mahmoud Fawzy, currently the Vice-President of the Egyptian State Council.

Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, expressed his happiness on this day, which comes under the umbrella and support of the Central Bank of Egypt. He also thanked the heads of the three Egyptian banks for their presence to sign the protocol today.

He stated that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's directives need to shift to a culture of financial inclusion, through cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt.

Sobhy also indicated that there are 885 bank machines in youth centers in all governorates of Egypt, noting the role of CBE, which allocated EGP 35 mn to the Egyptian champions in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which resulted in achieving distinguished results, to support our Egyptian heroes who are preparing for

2024 Summer Olympics.

Sobhy indicated that the protocol aims to finance investment projects that take place in youth centers, which are funded by national banks under CBE's supervision.

The minister referred to the role played by  Ministry of Youth and Sports in investing in Egyptian youth through the presence of 5,000 programs by the ministry, such as Tawar w Ghayar initiative.

Mohamed El-Etreby, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banque Misr, congratulated Dr. Ashraf Sobhy on his well-deserved victory in the presidency of Association of African Universities, which was recently held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He also thanked the heads the banks for their presence and partnership in protocol to, stressing the bank’s keenness to cooperate with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in many fields and their full support for all projects undertaken by the Ministry.

Alaa Farouk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Agricultural Bank of Egypt, affirmed the bank's keenness to support and empower rural areas, especially young people, with the aim of providing them with real job opportunities and improving their quality of life, through several financing programs offered by the bank to support small and micro projects and providing them with knowledge, opportunities, skills and financial support.

In terms of the bank's national role in supporting and assisting the state's efforts to achieve sustainable development and the growth of the national economy, in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi."

Farouk explained that Agricultural Bank of Egypt is able to more benefiting from this protocol, as it believes in the vital role played by small projects in achieving the economic and social goals of the state.

He explained that this will be done through the implementation of the financial inclusion plan and the provision of banking and financial services in its branches, which are the largest and most widespread in all cities and villages, with more than 1,200 branches, which allows access to all segments of society.

Farouk stressed that the bank will continue its efforts to focus on the villages included in the presidential initiative, Decent Life, to achieve the quality of life of these villages and improving their standard of living.

Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank, was keen to confirm that the bank is one of the partners and supporters of Olympic Champion project with Ministry of Youth and Sports.

He added that he believes financial inclusion and giving young people the opportunity to manage these small and medium projects is one of the goals that the bank's board of directors seeks to achieve; it was important to be mentioned in this protocol, which will provide the opportunity for young people to gain more experience through managing these projects.

Deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Sherif Loqman, focused on the role of the state in bringing in many partners, which is the great role played by the Ministry, headed by Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports