TITLE: Egypt's Central Bank Signs Memorandum of Understanding with COMESA Competition Commission to Strengthen Regional Competition Protection
BODY:
On May 11, 2026, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission to enhance cooperation on regional competition protection. The MOU was signed by Mai Abu Al-Naja, First Deputy Governor of the CBE, and Dr. Willard Muyemba, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the COMESA Competition Commission, at the CBE headquarters in the presence of senior officials from both institutions.
The MOU aims to strengthen economic integration and support fair competition within COMESA member states' markets, particularly in the banking sector. The cooperation will facilitate the exchange of expertise and capacity building in areas including the investigation of monopolistic practices and the assessment of merger and acquisition transactions. The agreement covers multiple financial services sectors: banks, currency exchange, money transfer, credit information and rating, credit guarantee, payment system operators, payment service providers, and fintech companies.
The CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla emphasised that the cooperation represents a strategic step toward promoting efficient financial and banking markets, attracting investments, and fostering financial innovation across COMESA economies. The COMESA Competition Commission will coordinate competition policies between the parties, strengthen enforcement of competition laws, and review regional merger and acquisition transactions within the COMESA common market.
The CBE is designated as the authority responsible for protecting competition in Egypt's banking market and licensed financial institutions under Articles 221 and 222 of Law No. 194 of 2020 on the Central Bank and Banking System. A dedicated unit within the CBE has been established to undertake competition protection functions.