Write / Hatem Mohamed
Mr. Hassan Abdallah, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, headed Egypt’s delegation participating in the 48th Annual Meetings of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB), hosted by the Central Bank of Kenya in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from 13 to 18 September 2026, with the participation of governors of 34 central banks from the Association’s member central banks, which number 41 and represent 53 African countries.
The Governor participated in several high-level meetings, including the Annual Governors’ Symposium, held under the theme “Monetary Integration and Financial Sovereignty in Africa: Strategic Visions for Reducing the Continent’s Reliance on International Institutions.” The symposium concluded in the presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya.
He also participated in the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors on 18 September, during which the Association’s activities for the current year and its work programme for the coming year were reviewed and decisions were taken. The Board meeting was preceded by the meetings of the Technical Committee of Experts and the Bureau from 13 to 16 September. The Board of Governors approved the composition of the Association’s Bureau of Governors for the coming year, with the Central Bank of Egypt joining the Bureau as Vice Chair of the North Africa region, in preparation for Egypt’s assumption of the region’s chairmanship in 2028.
The Board also approved the publication of the second edition of the African Financial Stability Report, building on the success of the first edition, which represented an important step towards developing a comprehensive framework for monitoring and assessing risks that may affect financial stability in the continent’s countries. The report is one of the most important outputs of the African Financial Stability Committee, established upon a proposal by Mr. Hassan Abdallah submitted to the AACB in 2024, with the aim of supporting financial stability on the continent and enhancing coordination and the exchange of information, expertise and best practices among African central banks in the areas of financial stability and macroprudential policies.
The Central Bank of Egypt chairs the working group tasked with preparing the report, with the participation of a number of African central banks representing the continent’s various regions, thereby enhancing the report’s continental character and enabling it to benefit from diverse expertise and experiences in monitoring and assessing risks that may affect financial stability. The report will be published through the Financial Stability Committee’s electronic portal on the AACB website.
On the banking supervision front, the activities of the Working Group on the Implementation of Basel Standards — chaired by the Central Bank of Egypt — during the previous period were reviewed as part of efforts to support cooperation and the exchange of expertise among African central banks. These activities included hosting two virtual seminars on “Climate-related Financial Risks and Sustainable Finance” and “Effective Supervision Based on Supervisory and Risk Management Frameworks,” in addition to organizing an in-person seminar at the Central Bank of Egypt’s headquarters on “Current and Emerging Supervisory Developments.”
Periodic newsletters are also being prepared, covering the most important topics issued by the Basel Committee, and are published through the Working Group’s electronic platform on the AACB website, which was launched in September 2025. During the meetings, the Working Group’s proposed activities for 2026–2028 were also presented.
In addition to the above, the Governor participated in the introductory session of the Board of Directors of the African Monetary Institute (AMI), after the Board of Governors approved its formation. Its membership includes, for the North Africa region, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, alongside 12 central banks representing the Association’s five regions. The convening of the session represents an important institutional step in the process of activating the Institute and beginning to carry out the tasks entrusted to it in support of African monetary and financial cooperation and integration.
