CBN And CBE Establish Nigeria-Egypt Fintech Bridge
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the central banks of Egypt and Nigeria in order to create a fintech bridge between the two countries.
Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the apex bank’s director of corporate communications, said as much in a statement, adding that the signing took place during the Seamless North Africa 2023 Conference, which was hosted at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo.
This follows a number of interactions on payment system, financial technology, and financial inclusion in Africa issues.
Aishah Ahmad, the CBN’s Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, spoke at the occasion and signed on behalf of the CBN. She expressed the excitement of the Bank for its cooperation with the CBE.
According to her, the approval came after several months of dialogue with regard to payments, fintech, and financial inclusion.
“We look forward to cultivating an innovative space for fintech startups and entrepreneurs in Egypt and Nigeria to accelerate financial inclusion, deepen our payment systems and drive economic growth across the African Continent,” Ahmad stated.
Rami Aboulnaga, the deputy governor of the Bank of Egypt, also spoke in favor of the MOU and expressed confidence that the collaboration will provide the expected results.
The collaboration between the two leading banks in Africa’s two largest economies spans a wide range of cooperative projects, including combined regulatory innovation projects, coordinated licensing and supervisory frameworks, information sharing, cross-referrals in fintech, and talent development.
Over 4,000 lawmakers, payment service providers, financial institutions, and technological entrepreneurs from Egypt, Nigeria, and the rest of the African continent attended the conference, which was sponsored by the CBE.
In a related event, the CBN has decided to clean up the foreign currency market by revoking the licenses of 2,698 bureau de change (BDC) operators.
The departure follows recent concerns about the stability of the naira, which at the moment trades for approximately N800 per dollar on both official and black market exchanges.
