Following clearance by Egypt’s Central Bank, Egypt’s three main national banks – Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire – have teamed with Global Ventures, a renowned MEA-focused venture capital firm, to form fintech-focused investment fund Nclude.
Nclude by Global Ventures will concentrate on boosting fintech innovation and fostering financial inclusion as part of the fund’s implementation of the country’s strategic objective to encourage young innovators.
The initial US $85 million investment is headed by Banque Misr, with key investors including the National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire. eFinance Investment Group and Egyptian Banks Company are among the fund’s other investors, and the fund is expected to attract more funding from important regional and worldwide investors.
Khazna, a financial super app that provides underserved consumers with convenient, technology-driven financial solutions; Lucky, a consumer fintech app that provides offers, cashback rewards, and credit; Mozare3, an agri-fintech platform that provides smallholder farmers with direct access to inputs financing; and Paymob, a leading digital payment service provider, are among the fund’s first investments.
The fund will be backed by Shipyard Technology Ventures, a global venture builder, which will give development skills to assist establish fintech firms that solve local and regional challenges in addition to investing in existing startups.
“This step is an implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to support innovative youth in the fintech and fintech-enabled sectors, as well as CBE’s fintech and innovation strategy which aims to create an enabling environment for the fintech industry and adopt more innovative fintech solutions capable of delivering banking and financial services to all segments of society more easily and at less cost, as a crucial step to transform Egypt into a regional centre for the fintech industry in the Arab World and Africa,” said Tarek Amer, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt.
Banque Misr chairman Mohamed El-Etreby said his company’s participation in the fund reflected its commitment to keeping up with global fintech advancements.
“This fund will achieve many gains for the Egyptian economy by supporting the country’s young fintech talent and creating the ideal environment for them to develop innovative solutions that will help deliver banking and financial services to all segments of society in a more efficient and affordable manner,” he said.
Basil Moftah, a partner at Global Ventures, expressed his gratitude for the company’s investors’ support and trust.
“Over the past few years, we have had the privilege of being part of the journey of many entrepreneurs across MEA, with a particular focus on the fintech sector and Egypt as a key priority market,” he said.
“Egypt’s huge unbanked, young population and cash-dominated economy offers strong opportunities for local and regional fintech and fintech-enabled companies who continue to witness exponential growth in the market. We look forward to partnering with all stakeholders in the ecosystem to continue to fuel this growth and transform Egypt into a regional centre of excellence for fintech innovation.”
