By Eman Hamed
Arab African International Bank (AAIB) announced strong financial results for the year ending 31 December 2025, delivering solid profitability and balance sheet growth despite an easing interest rate environment.
Commenting on this Tamer Waheed Vice-Chairman and Managing Director stated:
As we close 2025, we have completed one of the most significant institutional turnarounds in just under three years.
During this period, the Bank successfully regained its market presence and materially increased its market share. Total assets more than doubled to exceed USD 20 billion, while net profits rose to levels of USD 300+ million, compared to previous levels of USD 100+ million — representing more than a six-fold increase in peer-comparable local currency terms. At the same time, we restored our return on equity comfortably back into double-digit territory.
In parallel with this financial recovery, we significantly strengthened the Bank’s risk management, control, and governance frameworks. These efforts elevated internal standards and institutionalized international best practices across the organization. This progress was highlighted by the Bank obtaining the ISO 9001 certification for quality management systems covering its internal policies and procedures while our Internal Audit function continues to operate at the highest level of conformance ratings with global internal audit standards.
We entered 2025 with strong momentum. Following two consecutive years of market-leading deposit growth, the Bank leveraged its strengthened liquidity position to expand total corporate and consumer assets by USD 1.5 billion.
This expansion enabled the Bank to restore leadership positions across Investment Banking, Debt Capital Markets, and Corporate Banking transactions, reflecting the renewed strength of the brand equity and disciplined execution. This progress was recognized with the Best Investment Bank Award in Egypt 2025 by International Banker. The year also marked the first release of the Bank’s Sustainable Bond allocation and Impact Report, following AAIB’s issuance of Egypt’s first—and the largest by a bank in Africa—sustainable bond. This milestone received international recognition as Best Sustainability Bond by EMEA Finance Awards and the Best Sustainable Bank in Egypt by the International Banker.
Our expansion across corporate and consumer assets was accompanied by a clear management focus on restoring asset quality following the surge in the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio to 12% in 2021. Through multiple portfolio realignment initiatives and substantial recoveries, the NPL ratio declined to 2.1%, reflecting a full normalization of credit risk metrics within market parameters.
Liquidity Coverage Ratio and capital adequacy remained robust at 326% and 19.3%, respectively, providing resilience against market volatility while supporting disciplined balance sheet expansion.
Strong performance across key business segments, prudent asset-liability management, and disciplined risk management helped offset tangible downward pressures on earnings resulting primarily from a declining interest rate environment and significant compression in fee tariffs following the normalization of FX markets and the return to a highly competitive trade finance landscape. Despite these headwinds, the Bank maintained Net Interest Income and Net Banking Income above prior-year levels, recording USD 602 million and USD 714 million in 2025, respectively. Net profit reached USD 362 million, representing a 20% year-on-year growth, while return on average equity increased to 13%.
Today, as the largest USD-based financial institution in the local market, AAIB’s CDS-adjusted return to shareholders stands firmly within the range of leading regional and international banks. While delivering strong financial performance, management’s strategic focus remained firmly centered on technology and human capital as the fundamental pillars of sustained long-term value creation and the foundation of a future-ready financial institution.
During 2025, AAIB initiated a massive overhaul of its technology operating model, alongside launching the largest core banking system upgrade in years, scheduled for delivery in 2026. This followed the successful migration of our foreign operations into one of the most advanced core banking platforms, enabling the Bank to progressively integrate into an increasingly digital and rapidly evolving financial ecosystem.
On the human capital front, 2025 marked the most extensive management rotation in recent years. This initiative was designed to promote career mobility, broaden leadership exposure, and further strengthen institutional depth. At the same time, the Bank accelerated its up-skilling and re-skilling initiatives to start building a multi-skilled, well-rounded, and future-ready workforce capable of operating in an increasingly technology- and AI-driven environment.
Further supporting a future-ready workplace, the Bank has been progressing on multiple technologically advanced and green-LEED-certified headquarters developments, expanding AAIB’s footprint across Greater Cairo, including the New Administrative Capital, Cairo East, and Cairo West, the latter scheduled to become operational in 2027.
Looking ahead, we remain confident in the Bank’s long-term prospects.
In 2025, we finalized our 2030 Strategy, designed for a world increasingly defined by economic uncertainty, geopolitical complexity, and accelerating technological change. The strategy places flexibility, resilience, and disciplined execution at its core, ensuring that the Bank remains agile while continuing to deliver sustainable value for customers and shareholders.
Over the past few years, the Bank has rebuilt scale, regained market share, and restored brand strength. Having successfully completed this phase of transformation, our strategic priority now shifts from expansion to optimization.
In the current geopolitical environment, where global investment flows remain increasingly selective and risk-sensitive, the Bank will focus on enhancing balance sheet efficiency, increasing capital allocation discipline, and optimizing the composition of its asset base.
Management will take decisive steps to streamline assets while reallocating capital toward organic and inorganic growth opportunities that offer superior risk-adjusted returns and long-term strategic value to shareholders. In parallel, we will continue investing in the capabilities that define the next generation of financial institutions—technology, talent, and institutional resilience—ensuring that AAIB remains well positioned to capture opportunities across a rapidly evolving regional and global financial landscape.
With a stronger balance sheet, a revitalized brand, and a clear strategic roadmap for the years ahead, we believe the Bank is entering its next phase of development from a position of strength, capable to consistently deliver sustainable value to our shareholders, clients, and the broader economies we serve.
