---
title: "CBE Governor Calls for Stronger African Financial Integration and Local-Currency Trade"
slug: "cbe-governor-calls-for-stronger-african-financial-integration-and-loca"
date: "2026-10-07"
category: "FinTech"
author: "Tariq Al-Mansoor"
correspondent: "Tariq Al-Mansoor"
correspondentRole: "Gulf & Capital Correspondent"
readingTimeMinutes: 2
tags: ["Fintech"]
originalSourceUrl: "https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2026/10/04/cbe-governor-calls-for-stronger-african-financial-integration-local-currency-trade/"
canonicalUrl: "https://aurav.ae/cbe-governor-calls-for-stronger-african-financial-integration-and-loca"
publisher: "Aura-V Intelligence (aurav.ae)"
---

# CBE Governor Calls for Stronger African Financial Integration and Local-Currency Trade

> At the Alamein Africa Forum, Egypt’s central bank chief urged a continent-wide push for deeper financial markets, local-currency trade and measurable liquidity targets.

## Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

- Hassan Abdalla urged African states to build a unified financial architecture, including an African rating agency, to lower financing costs.
- He proposed concrete targets: 10 % of banking liquidity and 5 % of international reserves directed to intra-African investment.
- Egypt has signed at least 15 MoUs with African central banks and is expanding credit lines to support regional money markets.

## Confidence and Creditworthiness as Growth Levers

In a keynote at the Alamein Africa Forum, Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hassan Abdalla argued that investor confidence hinges on stable policies and transparent credit assessments. He called for an African rating agency to improve credit ratings and enable cheaper financing for member states. The governor linked these reforms to the continent’s “biggest opportunity and possibly liability” – its youth, with roughly 12 million entrants to the labour market each year versus about 3 million formal jobs created.

## Local Currencies and Intra-Regional Liquidity

Abdalla stressed that African capital often exits for developed markets, returning at higher cost, and advocated greater use of local currencies in trade. He suggested starting with a portion of trade conducted in African currencies as a practical first step. To operationalise the vision, he outlined targets: directing 10 % of African banking liquidity toward intra-continental investment and allocating 5 % of international reserves to African projects.

## Egypt’s Role and Emerging Partnerships

Citing Egypt’s recent reforms, Abdalla highlighted rising net international reserves and stronger bank capital adequacy ratios as evidence of a resilient banking sector. He noted that Egypt has signed at least 15 memoranda of understanding with African central banks covering training and governance, and that Egyptian banks are opening credit lines to boost liquidity and investment across the continent.

## Reducing Trade Barriers

The governor also called for faster customs clearance and reduced procedural delays to facilitate goods movement, positioning these logistics improvements as essential to scaling intra-African trade and investment flows.

These points form the core of Abdalla’s appeal for a coordinated, financially integrated Africa, as presented at the forum convened under the African Union’s biennial mandate.

---

*Original Think-Tank Source: [CBE Governor calls for stronger African financial integration, local currency trade](https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2026/10/04/cbe-governor-calls-for-stronger-african-financial-integration-local-currency-trade/)*