Egypt and Tunisia Talk Cooperation on Non‑Banking Microfinance Regulation

Meeting and Objectives

Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority Chairman Islam Azzam said the authority is keen to strengthen cooperation with Arab and African countries, prioritising the exchange of expertise and knowledge‑sharing. He made the remarks during a meeting with Mahmoud Montasser Mansour, executive director‑general and founder of Tunisia’s Microfinance Control Authority, and his accompanying delegation, which aimed to discuss ways to enhance cooperation and share regulatory and supervisory expertise in non‑banking finance.

FRA Assistant Chairman Rehab Taha also attended the meeting.

The Tunisian delegation’s visit sought to obtain first‑hand insight into Egypt’s legislative and regulatory frameworks governing financing for medium, small and micro enterprises, especially given the relatively close timing of regulatory developments in the sector in both countries.

Egypt’s Regulatory Priorities

Azzam welcomed the Tunisian officials to Egypt, describing non‑banking finance for enterprises as one of the key sectors supervised by the FRA because of its relevance to a broad segment of the population. He said the sector directly supports financial inclusion, one of the main objectives of Egypt Vision 2030 and the government’s plan to advance the national economy, and noted its potential to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable groups and contribute to sustainable economic and social development.

He reported that outstanding financing balances for medium, small and micro enterprises in Egypt exceeded 101 billion Egyptian pounds in the second quarter of 2026, benefitting around 3.5 million people through approximately 4,400 outlets operated by licensed companies, associations and institutions nationwide.

Azzam added that the FRA has recently placed special emphasis on improving the financing experience for beneficiaries, particularly microenterprise owners, by tightening assessments of borrowers’ repayment capacity to reduce defaults, ensuring transparent information and data protection, and encouraging providers to develop innovative products that meet customers’ needs.

The authority also aims to ensure that customers can effectively use available grievance and complaints mechanisms and to assess the actual impact of financing on their livelihoods and economic activities.

He cited recent regulatory steps that tighten oversight of debt‑collection practices to prevent abuse, strengthen customer identity verification, enhance the FRA’s early risk detection and lower individual borrower defaults.

The measures further seek to improve the financial solvency of licensed financing providers and to encourage the development of new products using financial technology to keep pace with market developments and changing customer circumstances.

The goal is to expand access to financing, especially in poor and remote areas, alongside ongoing awareness campaigns carried out in cooperation with various government entities.

Tunisia’s Microfinance Landscape and Joint Outlook

For his part, Mansour reviewed the development of Tunisia’s microfinance sector since its regulation in 1999, initially covering associations, followed by a restructuring in 2011 that brought commercial microfinance institutions under regulatory supervision.

He outlined the authority’s role since 2012 in regulating pricing and monitoring financing costs, and mentioned measures introduced in the previous year, including reviews of the prices of certain products offered by seven licensed microfinance companies and 289 licensed microcredit associations.

According to Mansour, over 856,000 Tunisian clients presently receive microfinance services.

He noted that in the previous year, financing amounting to approximately 2.7 billion Tunisian dinars — equal to 47.1 billion Egyptian pounds — was provided via over 524,000 transactions, indicating continued sector growth.

Participants also talked about creating new financial products, broadening the range of financing instruments, and exchanging experiences on digital transformation, fintech tools and AI‑based supervisory systems used by both countries.

They also examined up‑to‑date strategies for risk control, regulatory compliance and consumer safeguards aimed at boosting the effectiveness of the functions supervised by each authority.