G20 china_web

ADVOCACY
ARAB AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL BANK
An industry trendsetter
towards sustainable finance:
Arab African
International Bank
AAIB is the first
bank in Egypt to
join the United
Nations Global
Compact and the
Equator principles
Egypt is in the right time and place to
enact sustainable finance to generate an
impact. For a country with its prospects
and geopolitics, challenges bring with
them much needed dynamism, which
potentially translates into opportunities.
Sustainable development is increasingly
prescribed for Egypt as not only the way out of its
current debacle but also potentially the key to its
future prosperity. While conventional interpretation
tends to associate the tumultuous times Egypt is
experiencing with instability, economic hardships
and social unrest, another perspective would detect
a rich terrain for development and growth potential.
The relevance of the concept of Sustainability for
Egypt’s potential has made it the core-organising
concept of its 2030 vision.
While the importance of
sustainability is currently acknowledged
and attested to by an increasing
number of organisations and financial
institutions around the world, Arab
African International Bank (AAIB) is a
financial institutions that recognised the
value of corporate social responsibility
and sustainability early on.
Stimulated by the conviction that
sustainability is necessary for Egypt
at large, AAIB realised the relevance
of corporate social responsibility as an
inherent component of its aggressive
growth strategy mandated in 2003.
With the turn of the millennium, AAIB has readily
perceived that sustainability is part and parcel of
its dynamic growth. CSR and sustainability have
been an expression of the bank’s notion of balanced
growth, whereby the bank ensures that its mission
goes beyond profit making to include a moral
mission towards society.
The notion of Value Creation to all stakeholders
has become an organising concept guiding the bank
as it moves forward.
Practicing sustainability as a value system
entailed a journey of more than decade of dedicated
efforts and diligent work. AAIB went through
a gradual learning curve that led it to evolve
beyond corporate social responsibility to embrace
sustainable finance as a viable road to balanced
growth. Mandating this direction has never been
easy especially for a financial institution that is
traditionally required to commit to the single
bottom line as the indicator of success.
Embracing sustainability
Despite the fact that the concept of sustainable
finance had been globally acknowledged and
addressed by governments and international entities
along with the financial sector decades earlier, the
pace and scope of tangible progress has lagged
behind. This required AAIB to innovate and adopt a
challenging but more sensible path.
AAIB's experience in embracing sustainability
unfolded a series of pioneering initiatives beyond
the mainstream. A strong value system propelled
insightful and proactive initiatives that introduced
new norms in the industry and increasingly inspired
the financial sector in Egypt to get closer to the
social, environmental and governance concerns.
AAIB has been duly the trendsetter of sustainable
finance in Egypt. The bank’s journey started in
2003 by institutionalising sustainability within its
structure establishing the first sustainability unit in
the financial sector in Egypt.
This was followed by launching the Arab
African International Bank Award, the first
educational competition in banking and finance for
undergraduates to bridge the gap between practice
and academia. The award aims at challenging