Banque Misr To Open 15 New Branches in Africa

Chairman Mohamed El-Etreby said that Egypt’s second largest financial institution "Banque Misr" will expand its services in 15 new markets across Africa.

Misr has obtained the approval of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to open a new branch in Somalia as well as two representative offices in Tanzania and Kenya.

The bank is also seeking to obtain a full banking licence from Dubai’s International Financial Centre (DIFC), which enables its branch to accept deposits.

[caption id="attachment_89433" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Talaat Harb and Medhat Yakan at the opening of a new branch of Banque Misr in 1935.[/caption]

The bank currently possess five branches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one in France, in addition to subsidiaries in Germany and Lebanon , as well as representative offices in Russia, China, and Italy, South Korea and global banking licences network.

Banque Misr was founded by industrialist Talaat Pasha Harb in 1920, and was nationalized under later President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1960.

Premiere Mustafa Madbouli said earlier in April that a new branch of Banque Misr will be established in Somalia, prompting positive repercussions on the movement of trade and financial transactions between the two countries.

Madbouli added that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries increased, especially after raising Egypt’s meat imports from Somalia, following the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture.This came during a meeting with the Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed Issa Awad, in the presence of Ambassador Abu Bakr Hefny, Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs, as well as the Ambassador of Somalia to Egypt.