The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said banks have channelled EGP 77.2bn to finance small and micro enterprises under the presidential “Decent Life” initiative between July 2021 and December 2025.
In its latest financial inclusion report, the CBE said the initiative has been implemented across 20 governorates, 52 districts, and 1,413 villages, underscoring the broad geographic reach of development efforts nationwide.
The report added that around 1.2 million bank accounts have been opened and approximately 14 million prepaid cards issued to citizens under the initiative. This has been complemented by the installation of 1,318 automated teller machines (ATMs) and the deployment of 9,700 electronic points of sale (POS) and QR codes to support the transition towards digital payments.
The CBE also noted that 94,000 mobile wallets have been opened, while around 392,200 users have been enrolled in internet banking services.
In a related context, the central bank said the banking sector has facilitated access to financing worth EGP 19bn for around 14,000 clients under the Nile Pioneers Initiative.
Launched by the CBE in partnership with Nile University and several local and international entities in February 2019, the initiative has provided a significant boost to entrepreneurship and support for start-ups and small enterprises.
It has also expanded technical assistance through 132 business development service centres across 25 governorates, delivering more than 1.16 million non-financial services to around 502,000 clients and enterprises. Women accounted for 42% of beneficiaries, compared with 58% for men.