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 Mobile Money Summit 2008 in Cairo
05/2008
Throughout the world, mobile banking can bring low-cost
financial services to millions of people, especially in
developing countries where banking services are not readily
available. It also has enormous potential to open new markets
for organizations that can facilitate it. Mobile Money Summit
2008 will give you the insights and connections to make the
most of this global phenomenon.
The summit will be held in Cairo May 14 – 15. Read more
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Coface acquiert le leader de l'information d'entreprise en Egypte
02/2008
Coface annonce la création de « Coface Egypt », et le rachat de l'activité de Fiani Partners, leader égyptien du secteur de l'information et du marketing d'entreprise.
Coface se renforce dans une zone au potentiel économique considérable et poursuit sa politique d'expansion en Méditerranée orientale, ainsi qu'au Proche et Moyen-Orient, deux régions au potentiel économique considérable : Coface est déjà présente directement à Dubaï, en Israël, en Algérie et au Maroc et indirectement à Oman, en Arabie Saoudite, en Jordanie et au Koweït à travers les partenaires du réseau CreditAlliance.
Coface entend créer en Egypte une plateforme régionale de services de credit management (information sur les entreprises et gestion de créances). Cette plateforme permettra à l'ensemble des entités Coface dans le monde d'améliorer les services à leurs clients sur cette zone en fort développement. Dans un second temps, Coface, avec des partenaires égyptiens, proposera des services d'assurance crédit et d'affacturage, à la fois à ses clients implantés en Egypte et aux entreprises égyptiennes.
Coface a développé depuis de nombreuses années un partenariat avec l'assureur crédit égyptien Export Credit Garantee of Egypt/ECGE, membre du Réseau CréditAlliance. Ce réseau, créé par Coface en 1992, rassemble des sociétés d'assurance crédit, d'information d'entreprises, des compagnies d'assurance multi lignes ou encore des sociétés d'affacturage dans plus de 90 pays et leur donne accès aux savoir-faire de Coface en matière de bases de données, systèmes informatiques et expertise de notation. Coface mise ainsi sur la proximité avec le client tout en conservant la personnalité des membres du réseau CreditAlliance. L'Egypte devient le 19ème pays dans lequel Coface, qui possède la licence mondiale Kompass International, développe cette licence.
« L'Egypte est notre première implantation nouvelle en 2008 » explique Jérôme Cazes, Directeur général de Coface, « nous poursuivons ainsi notre stratégie de déploiement de nos 4 lignes de métier pour couvrir 80 pays d'ici à 2010 ».
CFO-news
A propos de Coface
Coface, notée AA (perspective stable) par Fitch Ratings, AA (perspective négative) par S&P, et Aa3
(perspective stable) par Moody's, est filiale de Natixis dont les fonds propres (tier 1) s'élèvent à fin juin 2007 à 11,6 milliards d'euros. Coface a pour mission de faciliter les échanges entre toutes les entreprises partout dans le monde. Pour cela, Coface offre à ses 120 000 clients quatre outils pour externaliser en tout ou partie la gestion, le financement et la protection de leur Poste clients : l'assurance-crédit, l'information et la notation d'entreprise, la gestion de créances et l'affacturage. Coface propose également, en France, la gestion des garanties publiques à l'exportation pour le compte de l'Etat. Grâce à un service de proximité de qualité et 6 000 collaborateurs répartis
dans 65 pays d'implantation directe, plus de 45% des 500 plus grands groupes mondiaux sont déjà clients de Coface.
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Oxford business group
Banque du Caire For Sale
08/ 2007
On July 9, the government announced it would sell an 80% stake in Banque du Caire, going back on its previous stated aim of limiting the privatisation of banks to the Bank of Alexandria. The decision has been met with criticism from factions of parliament and the public, concerned by the growing level of foreign ownership in Egyptian assets. However, government ministers and members of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) insist that such fears are overblown and that the sale is the most expedient and financially viable solution for the ailing bank.
The announcement signalled the reversal of the government's original plan, announced in September 2006, to merge Banque du Caire with Banque Misr. According to Youssef Boutros Ghali, the minister of finance, the decision was made following a detailed cost analysis of the merger with the input of international consultants.
"At first, we chose to merge Banque Du Caire with Bank Misr. However, after analysis, we realised that the branches of both banks are in close proximity, which means we would either have to shut down these branches or let them negatively effect Bank Misr's operations," Ghali told local press.
Ghali estimated the total cost of combining the two banks to be around $2.4bn against $1.6bn for restructuring Banque Misr separately. Meanwhile, according to Farouk El Okda, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the sale of Banque du Caire could reach up to $2.4bn in proceeds. El Okda said that part of the funds raised from the sale would be channelled towards repaying public sector debt to the Bank of Alexandria and the National Bank of Egypt, clearing their loan portfolios by the end of the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
While many believe El Okda's proposed price to be optimistic, he said the figure was based on the fact that Banque du Caire has a greater market share, more branches and a more sophisticated database than Bank of Alexandria, which was bought last year by Sanpaulo for $1.6bn, six times its market value.
The decision has been met with criticism from both opposition MPs and members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
Mostafa Bakry, an independent MP, claimed, "The selling of this bank will bring back the concept of foreign privileges."
A panel consisting of members of the planning and budget committee and the economic committee of the People's assembly requested a formal investigation into the sale. In recent months, a small but vociferous opposition group opposed to what they see as the selling of Egypt through privatisation schemes that hand over Egyptian assets too easily to foreign companies. Some have called for Egyptian companies only to be allowed to bid for the bank.
Tarek Amer, deputy governor of the CBE, was quick to dampen fears of foreign ownership saying, "If a foreign bank dares to play with the local market then the law allows us to overrule it or change its administration."
El Okda insisted that even if Banque du Caire were to be bought up by a foreign company, the banking sector would still be dominated by Egyptians. Egyptian banks hold a 71% market share while Arab banks account for 11% and foreign banks 18%.
The Arab Bank, the National Bank of Kuwait and HSBC are some of the banks that have already expressed interest in the sale.
80% of Banque du Caire shares will be sold to a private investor over 2008 while 15% will be put up for an IPO and 5% will be held by employees. According to Ghali, the sale will take place in a similar format to the sale of Bank of Alexandria last year when the CBE studied 20 proposals and short listed four for consideration.
The eventual winner of the bid will inherit a bank with a 6% share of the market and over 200 branches but also an over-sized employee roster and a huge non performing loans portfolio, estimated to make up 73% of the banks gross loans.
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Oxford group
Banking on Egypt
10/2006
Last week, Italy's Sanpaolo IMI Bank won its bid for an 80% stake in the Bank of Alexandria (BoA). The privatisation of the formerly state-owned outfit has given Sanpaolo control of Egypt's newest and largest private bank.
When the final bids were opened on October 16, many observers were surprised that the Italian bank had come out on top, beating off a number of other contenders who had been tipped to leave Sanpaolo in their wake. Among the failed bidders was a consortium led by the Jordanian Arab Bank, a joint venture of the UAE's Mashreqbank and the Dubai Investment Group and BNP Paribas of France.
Sanpaolo, which is soon to merge with Banca Intesa, also of Italy, to form the EU's fourth largest bank, submitted a final bid of $1.6bn, valuing BoA at $12.6 a share, well above the price any of the other contenders were willing to offer.
The block sale of the 80% stake in the bank will be followed, at a time to be announced, by the state fully divesting itself of any holding in BoA, with a further 5% to be sold to staff and the remaining 15% to be floated in the stock market.
The high price raised some eyebrows at the time of the sale, though Pietro Modiano, the bank's general manager, dismissed suggestions that Sanpaolo had paid over the odds.
We are strategic investors eyeing Egypt's fast growing economy and population, in addition to benefiting from its proximity to Italy, Modiano said in an interview with local press. We are not portfolio investors who just want to buy a stake in a company and get a good yield.
Modiano also said that Sanpaolo wanted to use BoA as a pillar for its strategy to expand into the southern Mediterranean region. Given that the BoA currently held more than 6% of customer deposits the growing domestic banking market, with 188 branches scattered across the country, and overall assets estimated at $6.5bn, the Italian bank may now have a good platform to build on, both inside Egypt and beyond.
The sale of BoA, which had been the smallest of Egypt's state-owned banks, was just the latest step in the government's plans to reduce the number of banks in the country. The restructuring programme has so far seen the number of banks reduced to 39 from a high of 60 in 2003, when the scheme was launched. Egypt's new banking law, dating from that year, set a minimum capital requirement of $87m, spurring a rapid round of mergers. As many as 13 more banks could go before the sector takes on the shape envisioned by the government.
Another objective of the restructuring programme is to reduce the role of the state in the industry. Following the sell off of BoA, and its previous divesting of part interest in a number of joint venture banks, the state's grip on the banking sector has fallen from 75% to 60%, with the ultimate target being 40%.
One of the steps taken by the Egyptian government to make the sale of BoA more attractive was to clear approximately $1.2bn of debts owed by state enterprises, most representing bad loans.
According to Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieddin, money raised from the sale of BoA will be used to re-structure the remaining three state-owned banks, Banque Misr, Banque de Caire and the National Bank of Egypt, the first two of which are slated to be merged in the near future. However, this will by no means clear the red ink off the ledgers of the three, with the price tag to cover bad debts and other losses estimated at $4.5bn.
A report issued by Moody's Investors Service in late September said that the government's overhaul of the banking sector was bearing fruit through the consolidating of the industry, the reduction in the level of non-performing loans from state enterprises and by improving the supervisory role of the Central Bank of Egypt. However, the report did caution that the complete restructuring of the banking industry would take time.
Another hurdle that the sector faces, according to a study by the Fitch international credit agency released mid year, is one ironically created by the very process of liberalisation of the economy that the government is working for. With most of Egypt's banks having little experience with lending to private individuals and businesses, having mainly concentrated on servicing the state's needs, many were not fully equipped to carry out proper risk assessments on potential loans and may be wary of providing funds to the private sector, the report said.
While having the fourth largest economy in the Arab world, just 10% of Egypt's 73m people have bank accounts. However, along with the Egyptian economy, this is growing. With further mergers and exposure to both international competition and co-operation, the government's plans to set the industry on a sound footing appears to be moving in the right direction.
Contact us : mail@oxfordbusinessgroup.com
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La BAD approuve un prêt et un don de 88 millions $ pour financer les micro et petites entreprises
10/2006
Ce mercredi à Tunis, le Conseil d'administration de la Banque africaine de développement a approuvé un prêt et un don de 88,04 millions de dollars, pour financer un projet d'appui aux micro- et petites entreprises (MPE) en Égypte. Les ressources du fonds seront gérées par le Fonds social pour le développement (FSD).
Le projet vise à lever certaines des difficultés de financement que rencontrent les micro- et petites entreprises et à poursuivre le développement dans le cadre d'une approche globale centrée sur l'appui aux micro- et petites entreprises commercialement viables, notamment eu leur facilitant l'accès à de meilleurs services financiers pour répondre à leurs besoins en fonds de roulement et investissements. Le projet vise également à aider le FSD à jouer son rôle de catalyseur pour l'amélioration de l'environnement d'affaire et du cadre réglementaire, afin de favoriser la croissance et le développement des MPE par le financement et l'organisation d'ateliers de dialogue sur les politiques. Le troisième objectif du projet est d'apporter un appui au renforcement des capacités institutionnelles du FSD et de divers intermédiaires financiers sélectionnés, tout en renforçant les services d'aide aux entreprises pour les jeunes entreprises et les MPE existantes, afin de les aider à améliorer leur performance.
L'objectif plus large du projet est de promouvoir une croissance économique rapide et de réduire la pauvreté, par la création d'emplois durables et d'opportunité génératrices de revenu pour les pauvres économiquement actifs.
Le projet s'articule autour de deux composantes : ligne de crédit (LdC) et assistance technique. La LdC d'un montant de 87 150 000 dollars, prêt BAD à long terme, est octroyée au gouvernement égyptien pour rétrocession au FSD aux mêmes conditions que l'accord de prêt entre la BAD et le gouvernement. Le FSD mettra ces ressources à disposition de micro- et petites entreprises viables pour répondre à leurs besoins en fonds de roulement et ressources investissements, soit directement soit par le canal d'intermédiaires sélectionnés. Dans le cadre de la composante assistance technique, la Banque fournira une aide à trois niveaux: (i) macro, (ii) meso (institutionnel), et (iii) micro (entreprise).
Le projet sera centré sur les résultats stratégiques suivants:
• Appui à plus de 18 000 petites entreprises et 60 000 micro-entreprises, création de plus de 100 000 emplois sur une période de cinq ans;
• Renforcement de la capacité du FSD et de ses partenaires intermédiaires institutionnels (Banques, ONG, etc.) à soutenir les activités du secteur MPE;
• Influence sur le processus national de formulation des politiques pour favoriser l'émergence d'un environnement réglementaire et opérationnel plus simple qui permette au secteur MPE non seulement de survivre mais également de continuer à se développer.
Le Groupe de la BAD a démarré ses opérations en Égypte en 1974. A ce jour, les engagements de la Banque dans le pays s'élèvent à 2,24 milliards de dollars dans le cadre de 69 projets.
Fiche du projet
• Nom du projet: Fonds social pour le développement: Projet d'appui aux micro- et petites entreprises
Location: ensemble du territoire national
• Date estimative de démarrage et durée: mars 2007, 5 ans
• Organe d'exécution : Fonds social égyptien pour le développement, 120 Mohy El Din Abul Ezz, Doki, Giza 12411, Égypte. Coût total: 88 079 600 dollars (60,64 millions d'UC)
• Prêt BAD: 87 150 000 dollars (60,00 millions d'UC)
• Fonds fiduciaire PRI : 871 500 dollars (0,60 million d'UC)
• Gouv. (FSD): 58 100 dollars (0,04 million d'UC)
• Acquisition: Toutes les acquisitions de biens, de travaux et de services financés par la Banque se feront conformément aux règles de procédures de la Banque pour l'acquisition de biens et de travaux ou, selon le cas, pour l'utilisation de Consultants.
* 1UC = 1,47637 dollars = 8,50978EGP au taux du 11/10/2006
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Financial sector reform project, Vol. 1 of 1
05/2006
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