Central Bank of Egypt launches annual Women Financial Inclusion Event and reports women’s financial inclusion at 68.8% after 295% growth since 2016

The Central Bank of Egypt has launched its annual “Women Financial Inclusion Event”, which runs each year from 8 March to the end of March, and published updated figures on women’s access to formal financial services. Women’s financial inclusion reached 68.8% by end-December 2024, representing 295% growth compared with 2016, with around 23.3 million of 33.9 million women aged 15 and above having access to financial services and owning transaction accounts. Since the event’s introduction in 2019, it has contributed to nearly 1.4 million financial products being made available to women by March 2024, including 664,000 bank accounts, 196,000 e-wallets and 530,000 prepaid cards. The update links progress to the Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022–2025 and measures to support a women-oriented legal and regulatory environment, including guidelines for financial inclusion products that simplify due diligence and allow accounts to be opened using only a National ID, including for personal or business purposes and for women opening accounts for minor children. The CBE also highlighted bank staff training with partners including the OECD and Women’s World Banking, sponsorship of the “Tahwisha” digital saving and lending groups project (around 246,400 women participating via the app by December 2024), the “Digitization of International Remittances Project” (with around 1.5 million female remittance recipients, about 85% of beneficiaries), and participation in the Women’s Economic and Social Empowerment Program implemented with the United States Agency for International Development.