(photo courtesy of CORPLEASE website)
Egyptian leasing company CORPLEASE has signed a line of credit worth $15m with PROPARCO, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency.
According to an official joint statement from both companies, the deal will help in diversifying PROPARCO’s leasing portfolio. It will also aid in restoring investors’ confidence in Egypt and improve its economic environment.
More financial services will be available in the country due to the services offered by leasing companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, will be better placed to finance their projects with their help, the statement added.
“Leasing companies in Egypt offer a variety of financing products that are usually more flexible than bank loans, tailored to the cash flow needs of the lessee, and with longer maturities,” the statement added.
The main gain of this new deal is that CORPLEASE will be able to provide funding in US dollars “in a time where access to hard currency financing is much less available”.
“This financing should also enable CORPLEASE to sustain its network given the additional access to leasing products to its Egyptian clients,” the statement added.
Back in December 2003, CORPLEASE was established by a number of financial institutions as DEG which is a subsidiary of KfW , the Commercial International Bank and the Union des Banques Arabes et Françaises.
Leasing products and services are being offered by the company, meeting the needs of different sectors as commercial real estate, equipment financing, plant and machinery, transportation assets, systems & IT, office equipment and fleet management.
The French Agency for Development (AFD) along with private and public private shareholders are in charge of PROPARCO.
The company’s mission is to “catalyse private investment in emerging and developing countries with the aim of supporting growth, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”.
