The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), on Monday, 17th of July, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a Nigeria-Egypt FinTech Bridge.

This announcement was disclosed through the official Twitter handle of Apex Bank

The signing ceremony was held at the Seamless North Africa 2023 conference in Cairo, a conference that brings together the entire financial ecosystem to discuss, debate, and evaluate the future of money.

According to the CBN, the deal was sealed after the two parties’ engagements on issues around payment systems, financial technology, and financial inclusion in Africa.

While speaking at the event, the CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, who signed on behalf of the CBN, said that the bank was extremely excited by the partnership with the Central Bank of Egypt, which followed several months of engagement on payments, fintech, and financial inclusion.

She said, “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.

The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Egypt, Mr. Rami Aboulnaga, also spoke, he expressed optimism that the partnership would yield the desired expectation.

The groundbreaking partnership between the apex banks of the two largest economies in Africa encircles a broad range of collaborative initiatives, including joint regulatory innovation projects, coordinated licensing and supervisory frameworks, information sharing, fintech cross referrals, and talent development.

The MoU will help foster the exchange of expertise in the realms of fintech, innovation, e-payment solutions, and financial inclusion.

The conference was hosted by the Central Bank of Egypt and had in attendance over 4,000 policymakers, payment service providers, financial institutions, and technology startups from Egypt, Nigeria, and other African countries.