On Sunday, May 7, 2023, Rami El-Dokany, Executive Chairman of The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ahmed Abu El-Saad, Chairman of the Egyptian Association of Investment Experts (CFA Society - Egypt). The MoU aims to increase awareness of green investment based on sustainable development goals and sustainable financing.
As per this MoU, training courses will be delivered to listed companies providing technical and scientific support to allow them to prepare sustainability reports as part of the capacity building endeavors for listed companies.
El-Dokany said, “EGX will participate in preparing training curricula, and will work to disseminate awareness and knowledge of green and sustainable investment (environmental, social and corporate governance), and of sustainable finance as well. EGX and CFA Society — Egypt will co-deliver workshops for listed companies and potential companies to list. EGX aims to provide various green investment opportunities for listed companies as EGX encourages businesses to view environmental, social and corporate governance rules as investment opportunities and not as additional burdens.
Abu El-Saad, CFA and Chairman of CFA Society-Egypt said, “Environmental, social and corporate governance has become very important factor in the investment decision-making process when it comes to emerging countries such as Egypt, which has been paying great attention to this issue since COP 27 that was held in Egypt last year. I expect a great demand on “Certificate of ESG Investing” after obligating all Egyptian banks to establish an independent department for sustainability and sustainable financing, and mandating ESG reporting from listed companies. Also, there is a growing interest of many asset managers in ESG-compliance investing.”
Ashraf Al-Khatib, Vice Chairman of CFA Society — Egypt and Head of Sustainable Investment (ESG) and Professional Development Committees said, “We seek to accelerate the pace of human and technical capacity building of listed companies and banks by focusing on sustainable investment (ESG) and sustainable financing. We plan to deliver the most recent training to the specialized calibers which help in attracting new foreign investments.
This comes in accordance with global interest in "sustainable development", which has become an important catalyst that directs the economic and strategic future of nations in general, specially Egypt Vision 2030. Egypt aims to achieve sustainable development in all fields and to integrate its principles in Egyptian state agencies to achieve desired objectives, such as protecting the environment, reducing pollution, and raising public awareness of environmental aspects.
The signing ceremony was attended by Chris Fidler, Senior Director, Global Industry Standards - CFA Institute, Antoine Shehadeh, Senior Director, MENA - CFA Institute, Jeanette Tawk, Director, Partnerships and Client Solutions, MENA - CFA Institute, as well as a number of EGX management.
