FRA: women’s board representation in non-banking sector reaches 26.9% in 2025

Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) Chairman Islam Azzam said women’s representation on the boards of non-banking financial companies reached 26.9 per cent in 2025, with 1,236 women.

Azzam made the remarks on Wednesday during the opening of the eighth session of the Council of Arab Businesswomen, highlighting the FRA’s efforts to promote gender equality and equal opportunities in the sector.

He said women accounted for 52.8 per cent of microfinance beneficiaries at the end of the second quarter of 2026, with 1.8 million women out of 3.4 million beneficiaries nationwide. Financing balances granted to women reached 33.7 billion Egyptian pounds, or 45.4 per cent of total balances.

The FRA has introduced measures to support women’s access to finance, including a 50 per cent reduction in development fees and service charges for companies providing women with more than 25 per cent of their services, as well as reduced fees for women’s empowerment bonds.

Azzam also highlighted customer protection measures, including OTP-based identity verification, real-time connectivity between financing companies and the credit information company, and credit assessments based on customer behaviour.

He called for stronger policies against workplace discrimination and greater support for women’s entrepreneurial, financial and technical capabilities.

Azzam also highlighted investment opportunities in Egypt’s non-banking financial sector, including the expected launch of short selling within weeks, alongside margin trading, hedge funds and the financial derivatives market launched in March.

He said the market-maker mechanism would help boost liquidity, particularly following its exemption from stamp tax under the latest tax package.