The Economics Department of the EIB organised its second roundtable discussion on banking in the Mediterranean, held at the Bank’s headquarters in Luxembourg. The event brought together leading players from the financial industry and central banks, as well as development institutions active in the region.
Key speakers and participants at the round table included Jihad K. Al Wazir, Governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority; Mohamed El-Kettani, CEO AttijariWafa Bank Morocco; Nassib Ghobril, Chief Economist, Byblos Bank Lebanon; Mohamed El Moussaoui, board member, Al-Barid Bank Morocco and Alfred Kammer, Deputy Director, IMF.
The EIB was represented by Vice-President Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Director of EIB-FEMIP Operations Flavia Palanza and Economics Department Director Debora Revoltella, amongst others.
The discussion focused on regional banking sector trends, as well as on the development of mobile financial services in the region. It was highlighted that the financial sectors across the region suffer especially from insufficient breadth, with SMEs being particularly constrained in access to finance.
The share of firms with a credit line is lower than in other emerging markets, and very few firms rely on bank loans to finance investments. The current difficult political and economic situation in the region amplifies these shortcomings.
Thus, it is important that the Mediterranean Partner Countries maintain their efforts at financial sector reform. In particular, more work is needed to strengthen financial infrastructure, to raise competition in the banking system, and to diversify the financial sectors.
Mobile phone penetration is already high in the whole region, and the discussion showed that mobile banking is potentially a very important tool for deepening access to finance and banking services. There is tremendous scope in using the existing dense mobile networks to expand access to finance to the unbanked.
There are a number of challenges facing the introduction of such initiatives, not least regulatory aspects and the development of a business model providing value added to the various players required to make mobile finance work.
The Economics Department published a report "Banking in the Mediterranean – Financing Needs and Opportunities in Turbulent Times", which reflects the topics of discussion of the roundtable.