Assessing the Level of Sustainability in the Egyptian Banking Sector

Abstract

This research aims to evaluate Egyptian banks’ sustainable performance and to rank them according to the assessing framework criteria. The researchers depended on the 2017 annual reports of 26 Egyptian banks and sustainability reports (if available). Then, the banks were categorized according to their type (public, private, or Islamic). Finally, the banks’ total assets were extracted in order to further categorize the banks into small and large based on the threshold of EGP 75 billion. The data from the reports were analyzed using the content analysis application NPV11 to measure the sustainability adoption score. Then, a Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine if there is a significant difference in sustainability banking performance score of public, private and Islamic sector banks in Egypt. Finally, a Spearman’s Rank Correlation was used to test correlation between bank size and sustainability adoption score. The results showed that there are only two banks that have significantly began to adopt sustainability practices from the private sector while no public or Islamic Bank showed any significant implementation. Furthermore, results reveled that there are nine banks with a score greater than zero and this was reasoned to be a result of the initiatives of the Central Bank of Egypt to provide low-interest loans to support small startup enterprises. Then, it was found that there isn’t significant difference in sustainability banking performance score of public, private and Islamic banks in Egypt. Finally, no significant relation between bank size and sustainability adoption score in Egypt was identified.