Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands (third from left); Prince Rahim Aga Khan (fourth from left); and Dr. Henry Azzam, CEO for Deutsche Bank MENA (fifth from left) join CEOs and managers from leading Egyptian financial institutions and other meeting participants.

Princess Máxima of the Netherlands Speaks on the Importance of Savings at AKAM / Deutsche Bank Microfinance Forum in Cairo

Cairo, Egypt, 27 October 2008 – Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands spoke yesterday at al-Azhar Park in Cairo on the important role that microfinance has to play in development and poverty alleviation. The Egypt Microfinance Leaders Meeting was hosted by the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) and Deutsche Bank and was also attended by Prince Rahim Aga Khan. The event drew over 40 participants from the government, private sector, development associations and the international community.

The Princess was speaking at the event as a representative of the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors. During her speech, she highlighted the importance of increasing access to safe savings services for poor and low-income households. She also pointed to the key messages espoused by the Advisors Group for governments, regulators, development partners and the private sector as important principles that will help to promote greater financial inclusiveness in developing economies.

Jacques Toureille, General Manager of AKAM, is also a member of the Advisors Group and in his speech he noted the necessity of expanding microfinance services to rural areas where a large proportion of Egypt’s poor live.

The overall goal of the forum was to provide a venue for participants to discuss the challenges facing further development of microfinance in Egypt. Participants highlighted the need for a dedicated regulatory framework that would allow for institutions to incorporate as limited liability companies, diverse their product offering and diversify their sources of funding – particularly through the mobilisation of savings.

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About the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors

The Advisors Group consists of 25 individuals representing governments, central banks, regulatory agencies, microfinance institutions, private sector financial institutions, civil society, development agencies and donors, and academia from all over the world. The Advisors were selected on the basis of their expertise regarding financial services and inclusive finance, their commitment to building inclusive financial sectors, their ability to raise public awareness, and their ability to mobilise wide support in the global effort to increase access to financial services. The main role of the Advisors Group is to advise the United Nations system and member states on global issues relating to inclusive finance.

About Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM)

Since its establishment in 2005, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance has brought together over 25 years of microfinance activities, programmes and banks that were administered by sister agencies within the Aga Khan Development Network. The underlying objectives of the Agency are to reduce poverty, diminish the vulnerability of poor populations and alleviate economic and social exclusion. AKAM is a not-for-profit, non-denominational, international development agency created under Swiss law. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. It is governed by an independent Board of Directors, with His Highness the Aga Khan serving as Chairman.