Hatem Amer, Managing Director of Al-Ahly Mortgage Finance, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), announced that the company aims to achieve exceptional growth in its financing portfolio, targeting a total of EGP 4bn by the end of 2024.

According to Amer, the company successfully issued over EGP 2bn in new mortgage finance in 2024. This was achieved through a variety of Programmes designed to finance residential, administrative, and commercial units, catering to the diverse needs of mortgage finance customers in Egypt.

He explained that these specialized Programmes were key to attracting new customer segments, including Egyptians working abroad, residents in Egypt with foreign income sources, and regional and multinational companies seeking to acquire administrative properties. These successes were driven by thorough studies of the real estate market and its evolving demands.

Al-Ahly Mortgage Finance was also recognized with the “Most Innovative Company in Egypt for 2024” award by International Business Magazine, a prestigious institution specializing in market analysis and financial sector evaluations.

Amer emphasized that this award is a reflection of the company’s leadership and position in Egypt’s mortgage finance sector, as well as its dedication to providing the best possible experience for its customers.

He further highlighted that the company achieved these results despite significant challenges in the Egyptian market, including ongoing fluctuations in exchange rates, high inflation, and rising real estate prices across various sectors. The company’s resilience, he said, was key to its success, enabling it to launch innovative solutions that addressed these challenges, with full support from NBE, the largest Egyptian bank.

Senior members of Canada’s cabinet held talks Friday with US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the departments of commerce and the interior, as Ottawa works to hold off the threat of punishing tariffs.

Canada’s newly-appointed Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, who will also lead the country’s tariff and trade agenda.

Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum was also at the meeting held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Leblanc’s spokesman Jean-Sebastien Comeau, who confirmed the participants, described the talks as “positive and productive.”

Trump has vowed to impose crippling 25-percent tariffs on all Canadian imports when he takes office next month.

He has said they will remain in place until Canada addresses the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl into the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised retaliatory measures should Trump follow through on his pledge, raising fears of a trade war.

Leblanc and Joly “outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives,” Comeau said in a statement.

Canada’s Border Plan — estimated to cost CAN$1 billion ($694 million) — was crafted as part of Ottawa’s response to Trump’s concerns.

Lutnick and Burgum “agreed to relay information to President Trump,” the statement said.

Trudeau is facing his worst political crisis since sweeping into office in 2015.

Leblanc was named finance minister earlier this month after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of prioritizing handouts to voters instead of preparing Canada’s finances for a possible trade war.

More than 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States and nearly two million Canadian jobs depend on trade.

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The future of finance, especially global finance, is not on the horizon — it’s happening now. Countries and Institutions that embrace interoperability, real-time compliance, and quantum-resilient security are positioning themselves as leaders of this transformation.

The financial system is in the midst of a monumental shift. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are gaining momentum as governments and regulators aim to modernize monetary systems, while Decentralized Finance (DeFi) continues to challenge conventional financial services with speed, transparency, and decentralization. However, despite their potential, these two forces — along with traditional financial systems — remain disjointed. This fragmentation results in inefficiencies, rising costs, and settlement delays, hindering global financial connectivity. Bridging these worlds is no longer optional — it’s essential to create a faster, more secure, and more inclusive financial future.

The Problems Holding Finance Back

For decades, the global financial system has relied on legacy infrastructure and fragmented regulatory and banking industry frameworks. While it has supported cross-border payments and international trade, it has done so at an exorbitant cost in terms of both time and money. The involvement of global politics has added an additional level as well to an already complex system. The emergence of blockchain-based DeFi platforms introduced new possibilities but failed to solve the underlying issues of scalability and compliance. Meanwhile, CBDCs add a new layer of complexity as central banks look to maintain control while modernizing payments.

The key obstacles are clear:

• Slow and Expensive Payments: Cross-border payments processed through SWIFT are slow and require multiple intermediaries, each adding fees, delays, and points of failure. The type of transfers are limited.
• Disjointed Regulatory Compliance: Payments crossing borders must comply with a patchwork of jurisdictional regulations, including Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. Current processes are slow, manual, and costly.
• Lack of Interoperability: DeFi platforms, CBDCs, and traditional banking systems all operate on isolated infrastructures, making it difficult to move money between them efficiently.
• Scalability Issues: DeFi platforms face network congestion during high-volume periods, resulting in slower transaction speeds and higher fees — far from ideal for large-scale financial operations.