Banque du Caire of Egypt: A State-Owned Retail Bank Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to highlight how Banque du Caire (BdC), a large state-owned bank in Egypt, has been successful in implementing and expanding its microlending program. BdC was selected for this series of case studies on state-owned retail banks (SORBs) providing microfinance based on the organization of its microfinance operations as an internal unit and the resulting rapid growth and reported low portfolio at risk (PAR). Its achievements are of particular interest given that it has been active in microlending for only five years and it operates in a country with a population of 71 million, an estimated 20 percent of which live in poverty. This case study is timely given BdC’s pending merger with a larger state-owned bank, Banque Misr. The authors’ intent is to document the strategy and implementation that led to BdC’s success and to consider the future of its microfinance activities in the new merged entity (also to be called Banque Misr).