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1 SOLIDARITY

In previous years, governance and environmental issues dominated the global ESG narrative. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic brought social issues to the forefront, highlighting how the most vulnerable are disproportionately affected by global conditions. EFG Hermes has always prioritised the social aspect, both through its Foundation for Social Development and through various products that promote financial inclusion and economic wellbeing. In 2020, it was more vital than ever that EFG Hermes demonstrate solidarity with those most affected by the pandemic and its economic repercussions.

Foundation

Pulling Together: The EFG Hermes Foundation Pandemic Mitigation Strategy

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us a new world, revealing just how precarious many people’s livelihoods are and how interconnected our world is. When the impact of the pandemic became apparent early in 2020, it became obvious that the only way to address the emerging crises was through an integrated approach that relies on partnership and cooperation. No single entity can mitigate the fallout from this global challenge.

Since its establishment in 2006, the EFG Foundation has adopted just such an integrated, partner-centric approach to sustainable development as the most effective means of maximizing both impact and return on investment of scarce funds and resources. One of our main tenets has been that partnership is the only way to realize sustainable development on a scale that has tangible impact. Over the years, our signature integrated development projects have gained a reputation for effectiveness, galvanizing partners from both the public and private sectors and from civil society. Through its work in Upper Egypt, the Foundation was ideally placed to deploy a series of targeted interventions to help mitigate the pandemic’s effect on the most vulnerable members of society and to support our development partners in their efforts.

Global Finance Award for Outstanding Crisis Leadership

EFG Hermes was recognized in October 2020 for its service to the community by Global Finance, one of the foremost financial magazines in the world. Its mission is to help corporate leaders, bankers and investors chart the course of global business and finance. Each year Global Finance selects the best financial institutions around the world. These awards have become a recognized and trusted standard of excellence. In 2020, Global Finance added awards for Outstanding Crisis Leadership in recognition of the challenges facing financial institutions in different areas this year

The package of interventions implemented by the EFG Hermes Foundation was recognized in the Outstanding Crisis Leadership: Community category which honours entities that have made exceptional efforts to support their communities’ general well-being.

Protecting our People: Business Continuity

EFG Hermes is committed to protecting its employees, clients, and their assets at all times, whether during emergencies or significant business disruptions. In 2017, EFG Hermes launched its Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to facilitate the management of any incident that might potentially harm our employees or damage our premises while providing a reasonable, but not absolute, assurance of business continuity in the event of a disruption to the firm’s normal operations. Later that year, EFG Hermes became the first Investment Bank in the Middle East and North Africa certified by the British Standards Institution (BSI) for compliance with ISO 22301:2012 requirements. We are proud to have maintained this certification ever since.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put our BCP to the test. As curfews and lockdowns were initiated, our BCP team immediately put response procedures into motion to minimize any disruption to normal operation and ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our staff.

Shielding the Vulnerable: Support for SMEs

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, small businesses were disproportionately affected, with many finding it difficult to repay loans or maintain lines of communication with their customers. Inspired by the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision to postpone payment of loan instalments, two of EFG Hermes’ subsidiaries, Tanmeyah Microenterprise Services and PayTabs Egypt, immediately introduced offers for their clients to ease the financial strain of the pandemic.

Tanmeyah Microenterprise Services

As the leading microfinance provider in the Egyptian market, Tanmeyah was keen to support its clients and alleviate some of the financial burden caused by the uncertainty of COVID-19. While adhering to FRA recommendations, Tanmeyah introduced two different offers: the first comprised of partial payment that ranged from 10% to 50% of instalments due in March, April, May and/or June, with the remaining is to be paid at the end of the loan tenor. The other offer constituted doubling the remaining tenor while ensuring the new extended tenor does not exceed the original one. Over 85K clients benefitted from the offers. Tanmeyah also undertook to cover all pandemic-related medical expenses for its employees and their families, many of whom are part of the microenterprise communities.

PayTabs Egypt

PayTabs Egypt is a joint venture between EFG Hermes and PayTabs that provides online merchants with innovative digital payment solutions. Soon after the start of the pandemic, PayTabs Egypt announced an offer to extend online payment and checkout solutions for free to SMEs that have endured financial challenges. The free three-month offer was available to any and all businesses that process approximately EGP 100,000 per month in online sales. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt were able to access and set up a payment gateway free of

charge for a three-month period in a move aimed to boost business activity while supporting small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to supporting SMEs in Egypt, the initiative will accelerate the rapid ongoing shift from a traditional retail ecosystem centred on physical store locations towards greater e-commerce activity and presence – a shift that was further accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak across the world. The Egyptian government has similarly been taking steps to boost e-commerce and reduce the volume of cash transactions.