Banque du Caire aims to inject EGP 5bn in syndicated loans for several economic sectors, according to the vice chairperson of the bank, Soha Soliman. Soliman told Daily News Egypt that the size of the syndicated loans portfolio at the bank reached EGP 16.426bn, with plans to increase it by EGP 5bn in the coming period. She revealed the bank's plan to achieve this goal, saying that Banque du Caire is considering participating in the loan granted to the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) with an initial share of up to EGP 3bn, of the total loan of EGP 19.4bn, which was arranged by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE). She added that the bank is also considering participating in a joint loan for Royaa Real Estate Investment Company with an initial stake of approx EGP 350m of the total funding arranged by the National NBE and the Arab African International Bank worth EGP 3bn. Moreover, Soliman said that Banque du Caire is considering participating in the awarding of a joint venture to Alexandria National Refine and Petrochemical Company (ANRPC) with an initial stake of up to $20m and EGP 100m of the total funding of $145m and EGP 551m, being arranged by the National Bank of Egypt. This comes besides the bank's participation with the Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) funding of $25m to the Egyptian Petrochemical Company, in which the bank will chip in $5m. She added that Banque du Caire is also considering granting the Egyptian National Railways a loan of $20m, of a loan of $65m arranged by the NBE. The bank is also considering granting a working capital facility to the Beni Suef steel plant of the Abu Hashima Group with a value of EGP 200m. Moreover, it is participating in a syndicated loans arranged by the Commercial International Bank for a telecommunications company worth EGP 13bn. The bank's initial participation in this loan amounts to EGP 750m. Soliman stressed that Banque du Caire is keen to inject more funds to various vital sectors in the country. The bank is keen to finance the sectors of petroleum, electricity, food industries, real estate finance, and construction. In a related context, Soliman pointed out that the bank has succeeded in achieving the total credit balances granted to companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to about EGP 2.5bn at the end of August 2017, a growth rate of more than 212% compared to December 2016. She added that the microcredit portfolio has reached about EGP 1.8bn at the end of July 2017, compared to EGP 1.2bn at the end of December 2016, bringing the total micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) loans portfolio to EGP 4.3bn at the end of August 2017. Soliman said that Banque du Caire is aiming to achieve sustainable development by injecting its funds in favour of SMEs. The bank has already succeeded in pumping funds to this vital sector, worth 8% of the total value of the bank's total credit portfolio in July 2017. She added that the bank aims to boost finances to this sector to 20% in January 2020, according to the initiative of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). She added that Banque du Caire has a leading position as one of the financial institutions in microfinance since 2001, noting that the total accumulated loans that have been pumped to finance these project amounted to over EGP 12bn since the bank started dealing with this segment, which benefitted over 500,000 people. Soliman said that some 25% of the total loans were granted in support of women in the countryside, as the bank is keen to increase the income of women entrepreneurs to improve their standard of living by providing access to various financial services commensurate with their needs. "Banque du Caire continues to implement its strategic plan and expansionist policy, to maintain its leading position at the local and regional levels," Soliman added. She explained that the most important axes of this plan are the development of the bank's market share in various fields through expanding the financing of MSMEs, finding innovative banking solutions and providing the necessary financing for the owners of these projects, thus contributing to the development locomotive. The bank's strategy is to continue to offer a range of innovative and competitive banking products that meet the needs of customers in various areas of banking and provide the best level of banking services to achieve customer satisfaction. She added that the bank's development plan also includes increasing its market share in the retail banking sector, while continuing to develop its branch network and banking services to attract new customer segments, thereby increasing the bank's competitiveness, maintaining its leading position and developing its market share within the banking sector. In another regard, Soliman pointed to the participation of Banque du Caire in the initiative of the CBE or financial inclusion to provide an account for every citizen, pointing out that the number of customers who opened new accounts during the week of financial inclusion amounted to about 23,000 clients. She said that the bank has also been keen to provide a range of incentives to attract a new segment of customers, providing special facilities for small business owners, in addition to opening bank accounts without administrative expenses. The bank also issued credit cards of all kinds without administrative expenses throughout the campaign period. It also worked on the necessary procedures to achieve financial inclusion by providing a range of innovative products that suit the needs and aspirations of customers. Furthermore, Soliman noted that the bank has recently developed its network of branches and opened new branches at the level of the republic to reach the various customer segments, in addition to expanding the availability of ATM machines in the bank to cover all vital areas so that customers can conduct their banking transactions around the clock. She added that the bank has introduced several modular products with specific and simplified links to meet the needs of customers, which cover all industrial, commercial, and service activities. These include standard products for modern activities without budgets, products for industrial and commercial activities with sales starting from EGP 1m, and another for the contracting activity, stressing that the typical products are easily processed.
