The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) hosted a five-day regional training programme on Micro and Macro Stress Testing for Central Banks at the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI) in Cairo, according to an official statement on Sunday. In collaboration with the COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI), the programme gathered 28 participants from 11 member states and a delegation from the CMI to enhance Egyptian-African integration as per presidential directives. It aimed to enhance the technical capabilities of African central banks in assessing financial system resilience, focusing on credit risk, liquidity, climate-related risk, and interbank contagion through stress testing frameworks and standard models. Naglaa Nozahie, advisor to the CBE Governor for African Affairs, underlined the importance of such programmes in strengthening the ability of African central banks to address crises and systemic risks. She reaffirmed the CBE's commitment to capacity building and institutional cooperation across the continent, noting that this is the 12th consecutive year the CBE has organised training for COMESA central banks. Ahmed Sahloul, assistant sub-governor for the Macroprudential Sector at the CBE, emphasised that stress testing enables policymakers to evaluate the impact of macro-financial and geopolitical shocks, including emerging risks such as climate change and cybersecurity, and to adopt targeted policies that reinforce financial stability. Lucas Njoroge, director of the COMESA Monetary Institute, expressed appreciation for the CBE's continued support in building central banking expertise across COMESA, and voiced hope for expanding collaboration in the years ahead. The programme featured lectures from CBE's Offsite Supervision and Macroprudential sectors, along with interactive sessions to exchange expertise and address regulatory challenges. It concluded with a set of recommendations on stress testing practices, which will be presented to COMESA central bank governors during their annual meeting in Uganda in November 2025. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
