Middle East's best bank for corporate responsibility 2019: Commercial International Bank

This year Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) wins best bank for corporate responsibility in the Middle East. 

Five years ago it began integrating sustainability into its daily operations and succeeded in reducing energy consumption by 40%. 

“We looked at how we manage our premises in terms of carbon footprint and waste management, and our consumption of energy and water,” says Mohamed Sultan, CIB’s chief operating officer. 

That prompted investment throughout 2018 and a reduction of water consumption by 40% over the year. CIB also mandates use of bio-degradable plastic bags and introduced an internal carpooling app. CIB also launched a green credit line and consumer financing for solar energy.

The bank is among those creating a global framework of the UN’s principles for responsible banking, which were launched in 2018. CIB developed a successful business case for digital microfinance lending for Careem drivers and has several microfinance initiatives.

CIB has zero pay disparity and to boost the hiring of women and their representation at senior levels, it introduced a structure last year where second layer management must comprise two counterparts: male and female.