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00:00 I will now turn to Dr. Ibrahim Serhan, the president of eFinance, to talk about all of this.
00:09 Welcome to the CNBC Arabic channel.
00:13 Let's stop at the end of your story with regards to your approach to increasing capital.
00:20 The obvious question that arises is, where are you heading with this increase?
00:26 We are proud that the company's growth is not only due to the management of the company and its board,
00:41 but also due to the company's financial center.
00:44 The company's financial center and the large growth of the companies that follow the company and its investments
00:53 led to the decision to increase the capital by 25% and to finance it with free stocks.
01:00 These free stocks are a part of the insurance for the employees.
01:10 This led to the strong financial capacity of the company.
01:14 We cover the expansion of this increase in five areas.
01:19 The first area is the electronic payments that are available in the Egyptian market.
01:29 The second area is to increase the investment capacity of the companies that follow the company.
01:35 We have two large companies that have great results,
01:39 either e-tax or e-health, and their area is large in Egypt,
01:44 so we are increasing their capital.
01:46 We are also strengthening our technological infrastructure in the three areas that are important,
01:51 which are based on our strategy, such as security, AI, and the important part of big data.
01:58 The third, fourth, and important part is that we are now an enabler for the digital bank.
02:04 We are preparing our infrastructure to serve banks in the licenses that are provided to them to become digital banks.
02:13 These are the important areas that we are talking about in the Egyptian market.
02:17 External expansion is also an important part of our strategy, as you know.
02:23 These are the areas of use of the increase in capital, God willing.
02:29 Let's talk about your financial position and your credit limit.
02:34 If there are loans or loans?
02:37 Thank God, we don't have loans or loans.
02:42 Our investment model is based on investment in infrastructure.
02:47 We can make it an enabler and an operational model for government and banking financial systems.
02:54 Therefore, it is a long-term partnership with the client.
02:58 This partnership means that these investments will be long-term,
03:03 and therefore, the benefits of this are thanks to God,
03:05 the company's specialization and its implementation of specific solutions to serve these things,
03:12 will lead to the results that you mentioned at the beginning of your speech,
03:16 that it is sustainable and also its margins will be, thank God, in the high percentage.
03:25 Yes, Doctor, this is not the first time you have seen an increase in capital.
03:30 Let's talk about your previous experience and its impact.
03:38 The previous experience, as you know, from 2021,
03:44 when we launched the stock exchange, there was an increase in capital.
03:49 This increase in capital, thank God, from 2021 to 2024,
03:55 was carried out by a study, in which we focused on the company's strength in the fields it is in,
04:02 and we launched two new fields.
04:05 These new fields have increased our growth,
04:09 and strengthened our financial center, because the number of electronic transactions has increased,
04:14 the number of clients of the company has increased from 20 million to 30 million clients,
04:20 in most of the systems that we are working on.
04:25 These two fields have made us a complete efficiency and efficiency with four new fields.
04:31 We have contributed to two, as you said, health insurance, e-health and e-tax,
04:36 and these are big systems in the country.
04:38 The other two points that have brought great results, thank God,
04:41 in the past year and in the coming years, are tourism and agriculture.
04:46 We know that these two fields are big in Egypt, and they are growing, thank God.
04:50 Right.
04:51 Dr. Nalaka, you follow the dramatic changes that have taken place recently in Egypt,
04:55 and that have changed from a state that is economically struggling,
04:58 to a state that is even related to the difference in currency, dollar and pound,
05:02 this is the issue that has affected the companies.
05:06 Companies with financial and technical difficulties are likely to divide,
05:11 and this is a predetermined part, not to say of the cake, but of the huge state that will organize the Egyptian economy.
05:18 What is your position from the perspective of the coming period?
05:24 Our position, thank God, is growing as a result of the factors that I mentioned,
05:30 the financial center, the company's experience of more than 15 years in the two fields in which it works.
05:36 The third part, and the important thing, is the readiness that has remained in Egypt.
05:41 Maybe Egypt, in the past 4-5 years, has made investments in its infrastructure,
05:46 which has enabled many applications and many uses for the digital transformation,
05:52 especially in financial services.
05:56 Banks in Egypt, and the number of people who are banked, are still a very large percentage.
06:03 This makes it possible for payment companies and those ready to build a strong infrastructure to serve.
06:11 We serve all FinTech companies that work in these fields,
06:15 we work with 38 banks, we work with the government in many large financial and non-financial fields.
06:22 This encourages us that the potential for us, the more we invest and upgrade our experience,
06:29 the more the interest rate will increase.
06:33 Of course, the dollar story makes us more and more dependent on the experience we have gained here,
06:39 we must use it outside of Egypt.
06:41 This is what we did last year, and God willing, the results will appear this year.
06:46 Yes, so, doctor, let's talk about the expansion plan abroad.
06:55 When will the digital bank be presented?
07:01 We are dealing with 38 banks in Egypt.
07:08 At the same time, we are a partner with all other financial institutions, such as the Post Office, the Tax Office, etc.
07:14 All these things make us understand that these parties, in the event that they enter a digital license,
07:21 must have a third party or an enabler to rely on.
07:27 We are the enabler, which means that I don't enter to be a digital number and compete with the banks I work with in this service,
07:35 but I am a partner and a contributor to them and I give them my new strategy.
07:40 Therefore, we have many services, very authorized and approved by the Central Bank and the Security Agency,
07:47 and we are working on them, whether in retail or corporate.
07:51 We have also increased the capital between InvestActor,
07:55 and we will have a big conference in the coming quarter to announce all our services to digital banks.
08:03 Therefore, we will be a good contributor to the Egyptian market to help more digital banks,
08:11 whether they are coming from abroad or existing in Egypt as digital banks,
08:16 to take the license and perform their services digitally.
08:20 - Finally, Dr. Is there a plan for external expansions?
08:24 - Yes, there is.
08:26 Last year, we received the legal licenses that a branch of ours prepares for us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
08:36 We are proud of our partnership with BIF, and they are working hard to make the implementation plan on the ground,
08:46 so that we can start the licenses, and God willing, we will have the license business in Saudi Arabia.
08:52 There are many countries that we have submitted offers to, whether in Africa or Asia.
09:00 The latest thing was the Kingdom of Oman, and we announced that we started with a partner there,
09:07 to submit our services to the Omani market, and God willing, we will do well to have licenses from the Kingdom of Oman.
09:17 - We wish you good luck, Dr. Ibrahim Sarhan,
09:20 President of the Board of Directors of E-Finance, for financial and digital investments in Egypt.
09:24 Thank you very much for being with us from Cairo.