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Our Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) platform maintained its strong growth momentum this year, saturating the market with groundbreaking financial solutions that continue to generate long-term value for clients, households, and stakeholders. The stellar performance delivered by our platform across the board attests not only to our ability to withstand present market volatilities, but also to the effectiveness of our operational strategies and business offerings.

valU, our Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) fintech platform, delivered an exceptional performance during the year. The platform continued on its aggressive strategies to cement its position as MENA’s leading BNPL platform, bringing the most innovative financing solutions to the market, and forming strategic partnerships to grow its base of services and merchants. In 2021, valU began extending its services into new sectors including healthcare, travel, finishing, and insurance. Simultaneously, the company successfully onboarded Jumia, one of the region’s leading digital marketplaces, to its platform, with an eye to expanding its service offerings to house more retail partners that reach a higher number of customers and help enhance their shopping experiences. In 2021 alone, valU booked over 450,000 transactions, with a total financed amount of EGP 2.3 billion.

Another major milestone for our NBFI platform this year was the strong performance of our flagship leasing and factoring arm, EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions. The company offers its clientele of corporates and SMEs a comprehensive suite of top-notch leasing and factoring financing solutions, driving the push for financial inclusion across the region. 2021 was a record-breaking year for EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions, the company registered a total value of bookings amounting to a record high of EGP 8 billion versus the EGP 4 billion booked last year, reflecting a twofold Y-o-Y increase. In 2021, the company heavily capitalized on cross-selling prospects with the Group’s Investment Banking division, as well as other players in our NBFI platform such as valU.

Our e-payment solutions platform PayTabs Egypt also fared extremely well this year, as the demand for digital payments and solutions continues to grow rapidly. The company shifted its portfolio to encompass more SMEs and social commerce ventures, which falls in line with its strategy to grant higher financial accessibility for Egypt’s unbanked population, and to promote financial inclusion across the country. It successfully onboarded a larger number of merchants to its portfolio, with a total of 640 new partner merchants added by year-end 2021. During the year, PayTabs Egypt partnered with our BNPL platform valU to create tailored financing solutions that enable merchants to convert their business models from B2B to more consumer-centric models. The company also partnered with EgyptAir, the country’s leading airline, in collaboration with valU with the purpose of providing convenient payment solutions for customers wishing to purchase local and international flight tickets. Another successful partnership for the year was that of PayTabs Egypt, valU and Inertia, marking the Egyptian real estate sector’s first ever venture into digital payment solutions, accelerating contactless real estate sales.

Throughout the year, EFG Hermes Holding’s NBFI platform has begun financing startups that operate in various sectors, with a strong focus on SMEs, young entrepreneurs, and freelancers. In January 2021, digital banking platform Oxygen raised a round of funding from EFG Hermes Holding, Runa Capital, S7V, 1984.vc, Rucker Park, Inventures, and other prominent investors. With this funding, the company aims to continue developing innovative financial tools that ensure the best banking experiences for individuals and businesses alike. Later in November, EFG Hermes Holding, along with DFIN Holding and Marakez, invested in Egypt’s KIWE Fintech, the country’s first ever social peer-to-peer payment app. Through this funding, KIWE plans to use BNPL platform valU as the application’s key payment method, providing users with seamless and convenient transfer options. In December, KlickIt, Egypt’s plug-and-play payment management and digital collection platform for educational institutions, concluded its first investment round. Backed by EFG Hermes Holding’s NBFI platform and Camel Ventures, the company aims to continue developing and enhancing its digital platform, in addition to upscaling its service offerings.

Bedaya, our mortgage finance venture and Egypt’s first and only online mortgage provider, has also delivered solid results for the year. In 2021, Bedaya’s operations registered significant growth, with the company recording an aggregate value of bank facilities worth EGP 1.5 billion. The year also saw the company take aggressive measures to expand its footprint and client base. At present, Bedaya’s portfolio has grown to book a total value of EGP 1,150 million and a client base of 437clients, reflecting the strength of its service offering and the high demand that is present for its competitive mortgage financing solutions.

Additionally, our insurance arm Kaf, has contributed to the overall success of our NBFI platform. The company is determined to provide its clients with superior retail and commercial insurance solutions, with an eye to driving long-term value for individuals, businesses, and communities at large. By the end of the year, the company had moved from less than 0.1 million to over 1 million individuals insured, making it one of the largest life insurers in the Egyptian market by the number of people covered.

During the year, our microfinance arm, Tanmeyah, continued on its branch expansion journey with an eye to broadening its roster of clients. The company successfully established 16 new branches in 2021, growing to record a total of 300 branches, and serving over 380K clients spanning 25 governorates. Tanmeyah managed to stabilize its risk after the challenges caused by the pandemic and booked a total portfolio value of EGP 3.7 billion at year-end 2021 — the highest level since the company’s inception. In-line with the Egyptian government’s financial inclusion and digital transformation strategy, Tanmeyah signed an agreement with Banque Misr to issue co-branded cards to its clients and install ATMs across 250 of its branches. In addition, Tanmeyah fully rolled-out its 2020 partnership with Damen, a leading e-payment network. Going forward, we remain optimistic about our ability to continue to grow and build on the successes we have achieved over the years. We look forward to another year of accomplishments, and strongly believe that our subsidiaries will continue to drive progress in the ever-growing financial services industry.