Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and EU Ambassador Launch 9th African Central Banks Support Meeting, Extending Programme to Dec 2027

H.E. Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and H.E. Ms. Angelina Eichhorst, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Egypt and the League of Arab States, inaugurated the 9^th Steering Committee Meeting of the EU-Funded Regional Initiative to Support African Central Banks Through Capacity Building “Strengthening Financial Stability, Resilience, and Governance – Towards an Enhanced European System of Central Banks (ESCB) Dialogue with Africa”. The meeting was hosted at the CBE’s premises on Tuesday, 20^th of January 2026, with the participation of a number of European and African central banks.

During the meeting, the extension of the programme was announced, which aims at fostering macroeconomic and financial stability in Africa, for an additional two years until December 2027.

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On this occasion, H.E. Mr. Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the CBE, stated that since the launch of the programme in December 2023, it has proven the significance of the peer-to-peer collaboration among African and European central banks. It has also contributed to achieving positive outcomes for African central banks, including capacity development, knowledge exchange, and supporting reforms to address global economic challenges. He added that the programme’s extension facilitates the expansion of the technical support and the capacity building of the central banks, along with strengthening policies and frameworks that support financial stability, transparency, and sustainable growth.

The EU-funded ESCB programme aims to support reform efforts and enhance financial resilience, which in turn supports multilateral trade, investments, and sustainable growth.  Additionally, it focuses on a number of critical topics such as climate change, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, governance and anti-money laundering.

This project is implemented by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Banque de France, in partnership with the European Central Bank, the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique, the Banco de España, the Banca d’Italia, Lietuvos Bankas, the Banco de Portugal, and the Národná Banka Slovenska.

The programme benefits a number of African central banks, including the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the National Bank of Angola, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the Bank of Ghana, the Central Bank of Kenya, Bank Al-Maghrib (Central Bank of Morocco), the Bank of Mozambique, the Bank of Namibia, the South African Reserve Bank, the Bank of Tanzania, and the Central Bank of Tunisia, covering a total of 24 African countries.