Egypt's Orascom Financial Holding (OFH) has announced the launch of a new financial technology (fintech) company, in partnership with EXCEL, focused on digital payments. This partnership marks an important step towards the implementation of the company's strategy working towards financial inclusion and digital transformation in Egypt's financial sector. OFH will own a 79.9% stake in the new fintech company, which will receive a paid in capital of EGP 100m. This capital is expected to reach EGP 500m in accordance with the company's plan, with the new company also aiming to reach over one million customers in the medium term. Onsi Sawiris, Chairperson of OFH and Co-founder and Managing Partner at a New-York based VC Fund (HOF Capital), noted that his company has a proven track record in managing and developing startups. These go on to become well-established companies in various global markets. The company's team, in their capacity as board members of Riverbank, also played a major role in developing and implementing the bank's strategy. This particularly focused on offering financing solutions to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. "The new company is OFH's first investment in the fintech field," said Nils Bachtler, CEO of OFH, "We are confident that the new partnership will achieve great successes, with the addition of a strong founding team that possess exceptional expertise and experience in the field." Ahmed Sarhan, Chairperson and CEO of EXCEL, said, "This partnership aims to form a leading entity in the fintech field, to which EXCEL will offer its broad expertise in technological solutions to ensure it can offer the best services and customer experience." Mohamed Aboulnaga, CEO of the new company, added, "With this strong partnership and ambitious vision of OFH, the new venture will introduce to the market cutting edge technology with a creative bundle of products and solutions that will facilitate cashless transactions for all payments and financial needs."
