State-Owned Retail Banks in Rural and Microfinance Markets: The Case Of Banque du Caire

Banque du Caire is a leading microfinance provider in Egypt, surpassing all other Egyptian microfinance institutions (MFIs) in active loans and gross loan portfolio and reporting a portfolio at risk as low or lower than most MFIs in the country. What explains Banque du Caire's success as a state-owned retail bank active in microfinance? This microNOTE details these external and internal success factors, documents key lessons learned, and poses key considerations when analyzing SORB downscaling into microfinance.