The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) has provided EGP 27.1bn to over 1.267m small and micro projects in the first six years of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s presidency.
Funding has been particularly notable in the period from July 2014 to April 2020, with MSMEDA also announcing that the funding has helped create more than 1.85 million jobs.
Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry and MSMEDA Chairperson, said the figures represent 60% of this sector’s total funding during the period from January 1992 until the end of April 2020.
The agency’s funding rates for projects has, during Al-Sisi’s presidency, increased fivefold compared to the average funding before he took office.
Gamea added that MSMEDA is focused on implementing President Al-Sisi’s directives on expanding project financing in Upper Egypt as well as border governorates.
The aim is to raise living standards in those governorates and provide employment opportunities for young people. Nearly 50% of the total financing for small and micro projects was allocated during the past six years for Upper Egypt and border governorates.
MSMEDA has provided a number of non-financial services to project owners, according to Gamea, with over 360,000 projects benefiting from one-stop centres’ services across Egypt. She added that a total of 15,800 Egyptian exhibitors have participated in 797 exhibitions, achieving sales and contracts totalling EGP 262m. Training was also provided to 37,000 trainees in entrepreneurial activities.
Gamea said that, in the past six years, MSMEDA has participated in implementing a number of initiatives with various state agencies to solve particular problems Egypt faces. This includes carrying out work on the auto industry strategy launched by the president.
MSMEDA has also coordinated with the Ministries of Local Development, Petroleum and Finance, as well as the Central Bank of Egypt, to start implementing an urgent plan to replace microbuses. Gamea said that the new microbus vehicles now operating are more modern and advanced, and use a dual-fuel system.
As part of the same framework, the agency has, in cooperation with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, implemented a project converting cars to operate on the dual fuel system.
As part of a contract with the Natural Gas Vehicles Company (Car gas) and Egyptian International Gas Technology (Gastec), MSMEDA has pumped EGP 125m into converting 25,000 cars to run with dual-fuel, with the project providing and maintaining 25,000 job opportunities.
The agency is also cooperating with the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to implement the President’s initiative establishing 4,500 factories at various industrial complexes across Egypt.
The first partnership saw the IDA and the Ministry of Trade and Industry commence with the launch of special units for the Merghem 2 Plastic Complex in Alexandria, including 204 factories. A small industrial complex has also been launched in Hurghada, containing 218 factories. A large number of these factories are currently being funded.
