Hisham Okasha's Remarkable Leadership Propels NBE to Unprecedented Success

We are just a few days away from the end of Hisham Okasha's third term as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NBE, which he has led since August 2013. During his leadership, the bank has achieved a continuous series of accomplishments over a complete decade.

This has propelled the bank to unprecedented increases in its market share, making it the largest in the entire banking sector. It has outshone its closest competitors with significant success across all fronts and historical increases in the bank's financial portfolio. This has placed it at the pinnacle of the Egyptian banking hierarchy.

This is vividly reflected in the numbers of NBE, over the years under Okasha's leadership, the bank has entered the trillion-dollar realm. Its asset portfolio reached EGP4.9 tn by the end of June 2023, compared to EGP366 bn at the end of June 2013, representing a growth rate that exceeded 1238.8% and a historical increase of EGP4.53 tn.

This strong performance has also increased the bank's market share, surpassing 36% of the total assets of the banking sector by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to 23.41% at the end of June 2013.

The bank's customer deposit portfolio has seen significant progress, reaching EGP 3.22 tn by the end of 2022, compared to EGP312.71 bn at the end of June 2013, with a customer base exceeding 19 million clients at the end of the same period. It's worth mentioning that the portfolio continued to grow, reaching EGP3.4 tn by June 2023.

This strong performance has led the bank to capture a larger share of the deposit market, exceeding 37% of the total deposits in the banking sector by the end of June 2023, compared to 26.26% at the end of June 2013.

Under Okasha's leadership, the bank also achieved significant increases in its loans, reaching EGP 1.729 tn by the end of December 2022, compared to approximately EGP 113.996 bn in June 2013. This growth continued to reach approximately EGP1.978 tn by the end of June 2023.

This is reflected in its share of the loan market, surpassing 42% of the total loans in the banking sector by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to 20.92% at the end of June 2013.

Furthermore, the bank has expanded both domestically and internationally, with its branches increasing from 338 branches and banking units domestically in June 2013 to 643 branches in June 2023, including 17 independent electronic service branches and 20 traditional branches equipped with electronic corners.

Regarding international expansion, it successfully added new representative offices, notably in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in addition to existing ones in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, New York City, USA, and Shanghai, China.

The bank also increased its ATM network, reaching 6,674 ATMs by the end of June 2023, capturing 29.39% of the total number of ATMs in the banking sector by the end of the same period.

Moreover, it achieved an unprecedented breakthrough in electronic banking services, prioritizing the provision of the best services to its customers. Notably, it launched the first electronic service branches in Egypt.

It also introduced Al Ahli Net and Phone Cash services, both of which have made significant progress. With Al Ahli Net, it managed to attract a massive number of customers, reaching a total of 7 million subscribers since its launch in December 2022. Additionally, the number of subscribers to Phone Cash portfolio increased to EGP 1.5 mn by December 2022, and the number continued to grow, reaching approximately 1.6 million portfolios by the end of June 2023.

In truth, the achievements of the veteran banker Hisham Okasha with NBE far exceed what has been presented. Renewing his term is crucial to continue his series of successes with the bank and to achieve further prosperity and prominence for the institution.