The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) have signed a new financing contract worth EGP 60m, within the framework of the Egyptian Family Development Initiative “Bab Rizq”, funded by the French Development Agency’s (AFD) “Supporting Women to Finance Micro Enterprises” initiative.
Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, said that the Egyptian Family Development Initiative aims primarily to improve population and control its growth rates, in order to help the Egyptian society benefit from the fruits of development.
MSMEDA explained that the contract reflects the Family Development Initiative’s keenness on mobilizing all efforts, and build partnerships with all state institutions to achieve its desired goals, which were developed according to the project’s five axes, especially the economic empowerment of women.
It pointed out that the protocol allows financing various projects for Egyptian women to improve the economic conditions of their families, help them deal with life’s burdens of life, and give them an opportunity to live a decent life.
Basil Rahmi, CEO of MSMEDA, said that the project aims to support state initiatives and finance new and existing micro-enterprises owned by women, indicating that the agency is keen on implementing the directives of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. It is mainly concerned with focusing on women and youth in particular, activating cooperation mechanisms with development partners to support the micro-enterprise sector, and expanding the provision of outlets for financing these projects.
He explained that the new contract with ABE provides financing of up to EGP 100,000 per loan, in addition to allowing access to the largest segment of customers through the most widespread branches of ABE, especially in targeted villages and rural areas.
Rahmi added that about 3,000 micro-projects will be funded during the project period, with priority given to the people of the villages of Hayah Kareema Initiative in 20 governorates. This can help expand the financing of micro-enterprises owned by women in various productive, commercial and service sectors, handicrafts and heritage, especially in the border governorates, Upper Egypt.
He pointed out that the cooperation between the agency and the Bank in the field of financing micro-projects came with a total of contracts amounting to EGP 156m, which were used as revolving loans and financing about 20,000 micro-projects, amounting to more than EGP 160m, through the bank’s branches spread across the republic.
Alaa Farouk, Chairperson of the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, affirmed the bank’s keenness on directing all efforts to achieve rural development, in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and the goals of the presidential initiative “Decent Life”. This aims to provide job opportunities and improve the living standards of many people.
Farouk indicated that the value of financing contracts between the bank and the agency has so far amounted to about EGP 3.583bn, which have been fully utilized in financing small and micro enterprises in various sectors for about 160,000 clients.
He stressed that signing the new contract with the agency represents confirmation of this cooperation, especially that it aims to finance 3,000 micro-enteprises for rural women within the framework of the Egyptian Family Development Initiative project, and through the microfinance program “Bab Rizq”. It was launched by ABE be a financing source for rural women and breadwinners in rural villages. Bab Rizq has so far succeeded in providing financing to about 44,521 customers in all governorates, at a value of more than EGP 463.8m.
