Egypt, Afreximbank discuss expanding partnership to support startups

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Ahmed Rostom, held talks in Cairo with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Executive Vice President Haytham al-Maayergi to expand a strategic partnership aimed at supporting startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and regional expansion of Egyptian companies. The meeting — attended by Amr al-Abd, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Entrepreneurship; Heba Zaki, Director of the Egypt Entrepreneurship Center; Mohamed Metwally, Managing Director of NI Capital; and senior ministry officials — focused on aligning bank cooperation with Egypt’s national entrepreneurship and innovation support framework and progressing plans for a fund of funds to finance entrepreneurship.

“The partnership between Egypt and Afreximbank plays a pivotal role in promoting regional integration across Africa, supporting intra-African trade, expanding economic partnerships, and increasing investment in digital solutions and cross-border payment infrastructure,” Rostom said, underlining the government’s intent to deepen collaboration in priority areas related to startups, SMEs and market expansion.

Rostom highlighted ongoing coordination between Afreximbank and the Central Bank of Egypt, citing the recent memorandum of understanding to establish a Gold Bank in Egypt as a model for strengthening the continent’s economic capabilities. He said the government is providing “full support to the entrepreneurship ecosystem through the ministerial group for entrepreneurship,” and stressed the need for continued coordination to identify priority cooperation areas and align them with national initiatives.

Context and areas of cooperation

• Strengthening access to finance: Discussions covered mechanisms to improve financing for startups and SMEs, including plans to establish a fund of funds to finance entrepreneurship in Egypt and support regional and international scaling.
• Venture capital and capital markets: The talks addressed cooperation in venture capital investment, support for startup listings and initial public offerings, and facilitation of exits to attract more institutional capital into the ecosystem.
• Cross-border expansion tools: Both sides reviewed proposals to provide more flexible regulatory and financial instruments to help Egyptian firms expand into African markets.
• NI Capital collaboration: Opportunities were examined to utilize a fund dedicated to promising SMEs in cooperation with NI Capital to back companies seeking external market entry.
• Capacity building: Strengthening cooperation between the Egypt Entrepreneurship Center and Afreximbank was discussed to support the center’s programs, enhance its capacity and accommodate an expected expansion of innovation-support activities.

Participants signalled a multi-pronged approach combining policy coordination, financing instruments and capacity support. Heba Zaki’s presence highlighted the role of the Egypt Entrepreneurship Center in scaling incubation and acceleration initiatives, while Mohamed Metwally’s involvement underlined the potential for NI Capital to channel institutional investment into growth-stage companies targeting regional markets.

Outlook

Officials said they will continue coordination to identify priority cooperation areas and align Afreximbank’s interventions with Egypt’s national policies. Advancing the proposed fund of funds remains a central near-term objective to mobilise capital for startups and SMEs and to enable Egyptian companies to expand regionally and internationally. If realised, the combination of targeted finance, regulatory flexibility and institutional partnerships with entities such as NI Capital and the Central Bank of Egypt could accelerate private-sector expansion across Africa.