EFG Hermes has launched Younit, Egypt’s first algorithmic trading API platform designed for retail investors, developers, and students, providing access to advanced trading infrastructure, market data, and tools to automate investment strategies through EFG Hermes ONE.
The new platform, launched by EFG Hermes, an EFG Holding company and a leading investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), aims to expand access to automated and technology-driven trading in Egypt and across the region.
Younit provides users with access to EFG Hermes’ Trading API and Software Development Kit (SDK), enabling them to automate trading strategies, backtest investment ideas using historical market data, visualize portfolios, develop trading applications, and participate in performance-based algorithmic trading challenges.
Younit Opens Algorithmic Trading to Retail Investors and Developers
The platform is designed to serve three main groups of market participants, starting with retail traders, who can automate rule-based trading strategies, test their ideas using historical data, and use conditional execution tools to improve trading discipline and efficiency.
Developers can use Younit to build trading strategies, analytics dashboards, portfolio visualization tools, basket-trading applications, and other market-related analytical products.
Meanwhile, university students and young talent can turn academic projects into practical market tools, participate in real-world trading challenges, and gain greater exposure to internship and career opportunities.
Younit will also expand the capabilities of EFG Hermes ONE by providing users with deeper analytics, smarter tools, and advanced trading functionalities within an established digital ecosystem.
Ahmed Waly: Younit Opens a New Chapter for Retail Trading in MENA
Ahmed Waly, Group Head of Securities Brokerage at EFG Hermes, said Younit represents a new chapter for retail trading in Egypt and the MENA region, noting that advanced trading infrastructure has traditionally been largely accessible to institutional participants.
He explained that the platform opens access to automated trading tools, market data, APIs, SDKs, and analytics, allowing traders and developers to move beyond reactive investment decisions toward more disciplined, data-driven market participation.
Waly added that Younit is more than a new product launch, describing it as the creation of a new layer of participation in financial markets.
Competitions and University Challenges to Support Algorithmic Trading Innovation
Beyond providing access to technology, EFG Hermes plans to develop Younit into an active community for algorithmic trading innovation through competitions, hackathons, university challenges, summer internship programs, and performance-based leaderboards.
Rana El Sharqawy, Corporate Data Science and Analytics Head at EFG Holding, said Younit transforms algorithmic trading from a theoretical concept into a practical, measurable, and collaborative experience.
She explained that providing access to market data, benchmarks, APIs, and community challenges will create an environment where ideas can be tested, improved, and developed into real trading solutions.
The initiative also aims to build a regional community of traders, students, and developers capable of using data science and automation to shape the future of market participation.
Ahmed Raslan, Data Science Lead at EFG Holding, described Younit as an invitation for developers, students, and innovators to build new solutions using real market infrastructure, expressing anticipation for the ideas and applications that Egyptian talent will develop through the platform.
Supporting EGX Modernization and Broader Market Participation
The launch also reflects EFG Hermes’ efforts to support the Egyptian Exchange’s ongoing initiatives to modernize the country’s capital market and expand technology-enabled participation.
By providing retail investors, developers, and students with access to market data, trading automation tools, and practical testing environments, Younit aims to encourage more informed and disciplined engagement with listed equities.
The platform is also expected to contribute to the innovation ecosystem surrounding the Egyptian Exchange, while supporting greater market accessibility, depth, and retail investor participation over time.
Waly reaffirmed EFG Hermes’ commitment to market innovation and providing clients with accessible tools to engage more effectively with financial markets. He added that making advanced trading infrastructure more widely available could help increase market participation and support deeper retail trading activity and broader capital market development.
