Yes, Johnny, Basil is joining us now with Dr.
Nevine Nakhla, CEO and Managing Director at El Gondy Trading.
Good afternoon to you, Basil.
Afternoon to you, Rada.
That's right.
You know, let me tell you first that we're going to be discussing Egypt-Africa relations, trade relations in specific, and that's why we're having Dr.
Navici as the go to go to person when you want to talk Egypt-Africa, Africa relations.
And let me first tell you more about the issue at hand because currently Egypt is looking to deepen its role in African trade.
However, one question is becoming increasingly important.
Can digital finance help turn small Egyptian businesses into regional exporters?
That's the question.
For many micro and small and medium enterprises, the challenge is not only producing a good product, it is finding buyers, proven credibility, receiving payments across borders, managing logistics, and accessing the right financing to grow.
And this is where digital trade platforms and cross-border payment systems could become transformative, especially for women and youth-led businesses trying to reach new markets.
And today we discuss how Egyptian micro, small, and medium enterprises can move from local sale to African opportunities and what role FinTech can play in that journey.
And for that, we are joined by Dr.
Naveen Nagla, CEO and managing director of El Gondi Trading and a strong advocate for MSME development, trade, digital trade, and Egypt's role in intra-African commerce.
Doctor Naveen, welcome to FinTech TV.
Thank you so much.
Uh hello, everyone.
Hello, dear viewers.
First of all, Dr.
Naveen, when an Egyptian small or medium sized business wants to make its first serious sale into Africa, what usually breaks first, finding the buyer, meeting export requirements, arranging logistics, accessing finance, or actually receiving the payment?
Uh, let me first tell you that in Africa now we have the African Continental Free Trade Area, the AFCFTA, uh, which I represent in Egypt as a company.
I'm the representative of AFCFTA in Egypt.
And before talking about MSMEs in Egypt, let me tell you.
Um, uh, what the AFCFTA is preparing and doing and implementing on the ground for our MSMEs in the continent and specifically in Egypt.
Uh, of course, the AFCFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area, is the biggest and the largest.
Uh, Economic milestone, uh, creating the world's largest free trade zone by number of countries and number of people.
We're talking about 54 countries.
Uh, the challenges for MSMEs in trading is usually, uh, credibility, uh, market access, uh, matchmaking, uh, logistics, uh, of course, digital payment and financing.
Um, we have under the AFCFTA now and with the MMida, the micro small medium enterprise of Egypt, we have a lot of initiatives on the ground supported already and still supporting our MSMEs.
If we look at one of the protocols, we have a protocol for SMEs, women and youth, and under this protocol with the Central Bank of Egypt.
A financial inclusion account was opened for all the MSMEs under the initiative, even if they were not registered officially yet, even with their ID and the name of their companies.
This supported them to go from the unofficial businesses to the official businesses and supported them to have POS machines, to have.
Uh, digital payment and QR code for their digital payment.
Uh, the other thing, uh, the credibility, um, we, we, we always have with SMEs, uh, the problem of credibility, especially when they are small, they don't have the tools, uh, as large companies, and also this has been solved by the new Africa trade gateway, the new Africa trade gateway.
Dr.
Evin, let's talk a little about digital trade, about the concept itself, because we often speak about it as if the main issue is simply putting products online.
But from your experience, um, training and working with MSMEs, uh, what does an Egyptian business need to have in place before it is truly export ready?
Sure.
Uh, the first thing, uh, we, we have already made capacity building for our SMEs, and this is what supported them to really export.
Uh, we started by capacity building, uh, product readiness, uh, and documentation readiness, also the market, um, export market, uh, opportunities, and the map of where their products are competitive, and what price.
On what specifications, for example, if I say a very small example for pasta, for example, pasta, spaghetti can be 1.3 millimeters in one country.
This is the request in another country, 1.8 millimeters, something very small, as small as this, as this, uh, very small detail, but it can stop them from going outside of.
Their country and, and to go and export and go to another market.
So uh it is uh market readiness.
It is uh product readiness.
It is packaging, it is labeling, it is uh the certifications, uh, uh, the, the, the all the requirements and the taste and the, and the things and the standards that the other.
A country want so for them to put their hand first on the export potential map, where is their products needed and requested and for how much this is the main thing and that's all before even entering the market or starting any any trade.
Let alone what happens after that, because after that it's a whole different dilemma, and you mentioned the payment.
Now we have the cross-border payment system like the PAPS or the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System to help solve this problem.
It's designed.
Make intra-African payments faster, cheaper, and less dependent on hard currency.
But from the point of view of a cautious Egyptian MSME, what would have to happen before such systems become trusted and widely used in day to day trading?
What they need now is aggregating because also they cannot afford the financial gap, the trade finance gap.
They cannot afford that.
They cannot afford that they ship the products and then they are paid after the bill of lading or after the product arrived to another.
Country after 20 or 25 days.
So uh the trade finance gap is being solved under also one of the protocols and one of the assistance of the AFCFTA.
We have a tool for trade finance under, under something called the Africa Trade Gateway.
Also, uh, on the Africa trade gateway, we are matchmaking and we are putting everyone on the same platform, digital platform.
Uh, so everyone is there to put their products, to see the other partner on the other side.
Um, uh, due diligence is being made under.
Anyone who's registered on this Africa trade gateway.
So, uh, we are in the implementation stage.
Of the AFCFTA, uh, all the tariffs, all the non-tariff barriers, uh, all the policies has been set in place, uh, till 2025 and 2026, we call it is the implementation stage.
Uh, so many countries, they started already, uh, working, uh, with the PAPS with the Pan-Afri Payment settlement systems, uh, exchanging products and goods amongst each other with their local currencies.
Uh, we have the African Bank handling uh the transaction with the central banks in each country.
So, uh, a lot is taking place.
Um, like I told you in Egypt, we are supporting, uh, a lot of SMEs, to export.
We're aggregating, uh, their products with the industry.
Uh, each industry we're filling the same container.
Uh, with the same industry products, so we divide the price of logistics, uh, on them.
Uh, we are supporting with a trade finance gap, uh, paying them in advance.
So, uh, and then aggregating after that.
So, uh, um, actually, uh, the challenges of, uh, intra-African trading, um, as I'm saying, we are in the implementation stage.
And uh overcoming and bridging the gap of each and every challenge as much as possible.
Very valuable insights, uh, Doctor Naveen.
We appreciate you being with us here today.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you.
