Paymob, Tamweely team up to empower female entrepreneurs

The signing of the agreement was attended by Amr Abu Al-Azm, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of Tamweely, Ahmed Khorshid, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of Tamweely, Islam Shawky, CEO and Managing Director of Paymob, and Chloe Gueguen, Financial Inclusion Director at AWEF.

The #AcceptTheChange campaign will initially aim to empower 250 female merchants (and their female clients) by availing e-payment solutions that will allow the selected entrepreneurs to further benefit from a booming digital economy in Egypt. Ultimately, such e-payment solutions will aim to empower a larger audience of female consumers, by providing them with greater payment choices, additional convenience, and the ability to generate valuable transaction records for future credit purposes. More generally speaking, the #AcceptTheChange social media campaign demonstrates how Fintech companies are now adapting their marketing strategies to specifically meet the needs of female entrepreneurs, who are increasingly interacting via digital platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.

Islam Shawky, CEO of Paymob, expressed his happiness in cooperating with the broader digital finance ecosystem - including microfinance institutions, banks, mobile network operators and development agencies - to jointly advance women’s economic opportunities in Egypt, particularly for female entrepreneurs. Paymob has in fact developed a range of Fintech solutions that aim to support the needs of micro, small and medium-enterprises, a segment which currently remains underserved today.

As part of this partnership, the Arab Women's Enterprise Fund (AWEF) - which is a development program financed by the British Department for International Development (DFID) - will provide technical and financial assistance to Paymob, while Tamweely Microfinance will facilitate linkages with their client base of female-owned microbusinesses, thus enhancing their business strength and growth potential.

Amr Abu Al-Azm, Chairman and Managing Director of Tamweely Microfinance also shared his company’s ambition to further enhance the capabilities of female entrepreneurs, who currently represent 42% of Tamweely’s customer base. Amr Abu Al-Azm rightly pointed out that women represent a key segment for Tamweely, due to their higher propensity to repay their loans.