Egypt's Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund and aiBANK signed a cooperation protocol today to bolster their partnership and cooperation in order to finance a larger number of applicants for the Fund. The protocol was signed by Mai Abdel Hamid, CEO of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, and Tamer Seif El-Din, CEO and Managing Director of aiBANK. The signing ceremony was attended by several officials from both sides, including Abdallah Roshdy, Executive Vice President of the SHMF, Omneya Elmaadawi, Subsidy & Operations Director of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, Amr Gamali, Deputy CEO – Business Banking at the aiBANK, Iman Badr, Senior Director of Consumer & Business Banking at aiBANK, Tamer Mostafa, Senior Group Head of Business and Sustainable Development at aiBANK, Sherif Nada, Chief of Retail, Branches Network, and Business Banking at aiBANK, Heba ElSaeed, Head of Financial Inclusion at aiBANK and Mustafa El-Shazly, Head of Mortgage Finance at aiBANK. In her remarks, Abdel Hamid said that the protocol is part of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund's continuous efforts to provide diverse financing solutions to Egyptians who wish to obtain their desired housing units. The Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund currently collaborates with 31 financing institutions and real estate financing companies across Egypt. Abdel Hamid also affirmed that aiBANK is an essential partner for the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund in real estate financing. The bank provides real estate financing to limited- and middle-income citizens who apply for housing units within the SHMF's projects. She further explained that the new cooperation protocol with aiBANK comes within the framework of previous decisions made by the Cabinet. One of these decisions is to set income limits for clients from all sources of income. The maximum payment for limited-income citizens is set at EGP 6,000 per month for single individuals and EGP 8,000 per month for families. As for middle-income citizens, the maximum income is EGP 13,000 per month for single individuals and EGP 18,000 per month for families. Hamid added that the fruitful cooperation between the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund and aiBANK benefits Egyptians included in the presidential initiative 'Housing for all Egyptians' for limited- and middle-income citizens. She pointed out that the new cooperation protocol aims primarily to continue providing suitable services for citizens who wish to obtain their housing units through the real estate financing system. Seif El-Din stated that the protocol is aimed at providing financing worth EGP 800m for limited- and middle-income groups in response to the Central Bank of Egypt's initiative to encourage banks to expand in the field of real estate financing and direct their efforts towards limited- and middle-income groups. This aligns with the bank's social responsibility alongside its economic role and strategy towards enhancing financial inclusion by achieving structural reform of real estate financing through providing long-term financing at low-interest rates to ensure adequate support for those groups. This aligns with the Egyptian Central Bank of Egypt's initiative for real estate financing for limited- and middle-income groups at a subsidized interest rate ranging between 3%, 5%, 7%, and 8% for a maximum period of 30 years. Seif El-Din added that the bank had financed a total of 6,180 clients through the aforementioned initiatives, where its portfolio increased by a growth rate of 60%, a value of up to EGP 782m divided into financing for limited-income clients by 87% and middle-income clients by 13% in 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, with an amount of EGP 488m divided into financing for limited-income clients by 96% and middle-income clients by 4%. He noted that this confirms the success of the cooperation between aiBANK and the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, as well as the bank's commitment to supporting and facilitating the ownership of housing units with the best service and in the shortest possible time. Seif El-Din also mentioned that a dedicated integrated service centre has been allocated in a new administrative headquarters in Bandar Mall in Maadi to facilitate procedures and services for citizens.
