The Egypt Financial Regulatory Authority reported that its chairman, Mohamed Farid, held a series of meetings in Washington with global investors at JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings, focusing on reforms in Egypt’s non-banking financial markets. The discussions centred on recent structural changes aimed at improving market efficiency and openness, with an emphasis on transparency, governance and expanding institutional participation. Farid argued that broadening market ownership should extend to financial institutions such as pension funds, insurers and investment funds, citing their role in improving investment decision-making and pricing efficiency and supporting more stable, longer-term investment patterns. He also pointed to the impact of digitisation, including digital know-your-customer, electronic account opening and digital transaction execution, in increasing financial inclusion and enabling new groups of users, particularly youth and entrepreneurs, to access non-banking financial services. On venture capital and startup financing, he referenced legislative and regulatory developments and said Egypt has ranked first in Africa in attracting venture capital investment in recent years. Looking ahead, he indicated that the next phase will involve deeper technical cooperation with international partners and global investment institutions, particularly on sustainable finance and digital transformation, alongside new mechanisms intended to facilitate foreign capital entry into the Egyptian market. He also framed the authority’s approach as combining investor protection with enabling new financial products, including green finance, sukuk and venture capital, while pursuing greater integration with regional and international markets.

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