EMEA Finance names Egypt’s NBE best African bank in CSR

EMEA Finance names Egypt’s NBE best African bank in CSR
13 / 12 / 2019
By Marwa Nassar - -

The EMEA Finance announced that the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) won the African Banking Awards 2019 for its outstanding efforts in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) domain.

NBE Board Chairman Hisham Okasha said the bank spent more than EGP 6 billion over the past five years on its CSR activities, including upgrading services, especially health and educational services, as well as developing slum areas.

Okasha hailed the award for recognizing the strenuous CSR efforts being exerted by the bank – which is one of the biggest financial institutions in Egypt.

The award was handed over to NBE’s Chairperson of the marketing and strategic sustainability department Nermin Shehab El Din during a ceremony held in London.

Okasha commended the efforts exerted by the bank’s efficient CSR team that works in line with international CSR standards, highlighting that the bank’s CSR activities are governed by well-examined plans embracing the international sustainable strategy.

He said the bank seeks through its CSR efforts to promote the Egyptian economy, support the Egyptian people and improve the services offered.

He added that the bank was also keen to work on empowering women and supporting people of special needs.

NBE’s CSR Activities:

Within the framework of the bank’s CSR activities, the NBE donated in July EGP 39 million to support the third stage of Shefaa Al Orman Hospital which offers free medical services for cancer patients in the Upper Egypt governorate of Luxor.

The bank donated EGP 44 million to support the first two stages of the hospital.

Shefaa Al Orman Hospital – which was opened three years ago under the motto “For A Cancer Free Upper Egypt” – received around 14,500 patients across the nation. It has provided chemotherapy treatment to 270 cancer patients on daily basis.

The NBE has been active to support the health sector in Egypt. In April, the bank donated EGP 300 million to establish Ahl Masr Burn Hospital which will be the first and the largest non-profit burn specialized medical complex and research center in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa.

The bank has contributed to renovating the Academy of Arts in Giza governorate within the framework of its CSR activities.

This was not the first time for the bank to give hand for upgrading the academy as the bank has previously contributed to revamping the academy’s Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts.

The bank has been interested in developing the Academy of Arts in particular because it is one of the most important academies, not only in the Arab region, but also in the whole world.

The bank’s CSR strategy has also worked on promoting the Sustainable Development Goals through backing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as female entrepreneurs and youths.

During the 13th annual People and Banks conference in November 2019, the bank’s SMEs department head Mamdouh Afiya said the bank has channeled about EGP 300 million for supporting female entrepreneurs and SMEs.

He added that the bank has been engaged in a pilot program with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from October 24, 2019 to November 27, 2019 under which EBRD provided a senior loan to the National Bank of Egypt of up to $ 20 million for on-lending to local private high growth SMEs, which commit to strengthening their capacity to train and retain skilled labor, in particular youth. The program aimed to address labor force skills mismatch, which constrains businesses in their growth, and create better and more sustainable jobs, including for young people.

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