When May Abulnaga’s mother pushed her into banking, she could never have imagined her future role in transforming financial access for Egyptian women. Today, as Sub-Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, May shares the personal costs, policy battles, and hard-won lessons behind her (and Egypt’s) financial inclusion journey. 

BIO: 
May Abulnaga is the First Sub-Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), where she oversees key divisions including Financial Inclusion, Banking Reform, Strategy, and Consumer and Competition Protection, bringing over 30 years of banking expertise to her role. A champion of financial inclusion, she spearheaded Egypt’s national financial inclusion strategy — initiating comprehensive data mapping, demand-side surveys, and supply-side analyses to identify exclusion gaps, which led to landmark regulations including simplified KYC rules, SME and mortgage finance initiatives, mobile payment regulations, and gender-sensitive initiatives such as the Village Saving and Loan Association. Her contributions to financial inclusion earned her the Chairmanship of AFI’s Gender Inclusive Finance Committee. May also established the CBE’s Financial Consumer and Competition Protection Sector and has led banking reform efforts with a focus on MSME finance, agribusiness, and entrepreneurship.