Committed towards corporate citizenship and development, the Arab African International Bank succeeds in introducing a cluster of fresh talents to the banking community for the second time in a row. Sherine El-Madany reports Amateur and young investors who wish to trade in the Egyptian stock market may have their wish granted after a team of future entrepreneurs recently presented an innovation named "Golden Basket" to the Arab African International Bank (AAIB). Golden Basket, an index fund based on the most actively traded 30 stocks listed in Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges (CASE), introduces a world-wide investment tool for the first time in Egypt. The innovation got a nod from the banking community and awarded its innovators a grand prize of LE15,000 at the second annual AAIB Award ceremony recently held at the American University in Cairo (AUC). "The Egyptian stock market has flourished and thus, has become more appealing to investors who seek infant markets that allow for potential growth such as Egypt," said Mahmoud El-Masry, a senior year student from Faculty of Economics and Political Science. "That is how our team [Golden Team, consisting of three other students named Passant Hegazi, Reem El-Agami, and Sally Refaat] got inspired and decided to come up with a project that will enable fresh investors who cannot beat the market to simply join it through stock trading," El-Masry added. Aimed at encouraging innovation and academic excellence in banking and finance, the AAIB annual award was conceived to motivate teams of university undergraduates and challenge them to develop a banking product or service not existing in the Egyptian market or to improve one which already exists. "Our role goes beyond profit-making to include a moral mission towards the local community and improve the prospects of the nation," said Hassan Abdallah, AAIB's vice chairman and managing director. "We are trying to make a difference in society through initiating activities in health, culture, and education," he stated. He continued to list some of these activities which include renovating the kidney and cardiac wing of Abul-Reesh Hospital, which involves the training of four nurses and ensuring the well-being of pediatric patients. As for cultural activities, the bank has financed Al-Sawi and Al-Azhar Park renovations. "In the field of education, the concept of the AAIB Award was developed with the objective of targeting as many students as possible instead of offering scholarships to only two or three students, as well as preparing students to compete, win, and be well-equipped for future banking careers," Abdallah explained. "Winning teams were chosen according to the professionalism of their substance as well as preparation, presentation, analysis, market study and strong determination," he added. This year's competition consisted of 230 participants forming 12 teams from the Faculty of Commerce and the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (English Section) at Cairo University, in addition to those from AUC. All participants received training sessions on report writing, communication, and presentation skills, as well as sessions on corporate, retail and investment banking. Throughout the phases of the competition an Advisory Committee, consisting of senior managers from the bank as well as representatives from the business and academic community, guided the teams and evaluated their projects. "The amount of volunteer time dedicated to the award makes us believe that the value prospect is far beyond the financial aspect of the project," said Abdallah. The second prize went to the Think Tank team, also from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science who received LE10,000 for their project Elite Bouquet, a package of three separate services targeting senior citizens. The third prize went to Pharaonic Minds from the Faculty of Commerce, and they were rewarded with LE5,000 for their project Fantom Card, a combination of debit and credit cards provided to all citizens. Building on the success of the award, the AAIB intends to expand the scope of the award nation-wide to include other public and private universities in the coming years.
