The Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) inaugurated last week its latest business development centre in Benha, Qalyubeya governorate, as part of the NilePreneurs initiative launched by the Central Bank of Egypt to support entrepreneurship. Alaa Farouk, Chairperson of the ABE, stressed that this comes within the framework of the Bank's keenness to diversify its banking and financing services in all governorates, support emerging, small and medium enterprises, and encourage entrepreneurs to launch their projects, especially in the fields of manufacturing, agriculture and digital transformation. In a related context, Farouk said that the bank is working side by side with all state institutions to achieve the basic goals and principles of the presidential initiative, Decent Life, especially with regard to supporting the state's efforts to raise the social, economic and environmental level, in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Farouk said that what the Agricultural Bank of Egypt is doing to achieve the goals of the Initiative is a constitution and a main focus in the bank's strategy, as we focus primarily on providing an integrated package of financing opportunities to motivate and encourage rural residents to work and produce, through launching micro-projects, establishing small production activities, with the aim of providing real job opportunities to empower women and youth and provide a good source of income for all family members and achieve a decent life for them, which contributes to improving the quality of living, and achieves a developmental and civilizational shift in all the villages of the Egyptian countryside. Abdel Hamid El-Hagan, Governor of Qalyubeya, had received Alaa Farouk to discuss ways to enhance joint cooperation between the governorate and the bank to achieve agricultural development and support the state's efforts to maximize the benefit of the agricultural sector and its contribution to the national economy. They also reviewed the bank's efforts to support and enhance the productive capacities of small farmers and livestock breeders to increase agricultural and livestock production.
