National Bank of Egypt Decides to Join R3 Blockchain Consortium

Given the constant evolution of the blockchain market, more and more financial institutions are actively looking for ways to get involved in the industry, and develop blockchain-based projects. Recent reports indicate that the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), which is one of the country’s largest and oldest banks, has just joined the R3 Blockchain Consortium.

For those who do not know, the Global Blockchain Consortium led by R3, is made up of a network consisting of over 200 banks, financial institutions, regulators, associations, but also tech, fintech and crypto-based companies. Apart from its members, the R3 Blockchain Consortium works with a variety of other central banks and financial regulators throughout the world.

In a recent press statement announcing the membership of the Egyptian National Bank, it was mentioned that the NBE will actively work on exploring the huge potential of blockchain technology, especially for banking purposes. As R3 offers access to Corda, which is an enterprise blockchain platform for commerce and finance purposes, the NBE will also get access to the platform. This will then allow the bank to train its staff on the inner-workings of the platform, and begin development of banking applications and other blockchain implementations.

Hisham Okasha, the NBE chairperson, mentioned that: “By joining this initiative together with world banks and companies, we will be able to closely monitor and engage directly in global blockchain developments (…) We can better assess the value this technology can bring to the banking industry and the impact it can have on faster and more cost-effective services to our customers for future implementation”

Additionally, reports indicate that the NBE is planning to present a proof-of-concept project, which consists in implementing blockchain technology for one of its services, while also improving collaboration with other banks.

Following NBE’s entry into the consortium, David Rutter, the CEO of R3 mentioned that: The addition of the National Bank of Egypt to our ever-growing Corda network enhances our engagement with the global financial industry, particularly in the MENA region. Our partners are developing cutting-edge blockchain applications on Corda that will change the way the world does business.” 

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, Egypt’s recent involvement in blockchain technology will surely accelerate adoption of the technology in the region.