The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) recently reported that the microfinance in the Egyptian market, provided by banks and other financing entities, reached EGP 87.5bn in December 2023. During the period from July 2021 to December 2023, banks injected EGP 32.5bn into micro and small enterprises as part of the Decent Life initiative. This initiative specifically targets 20 governorates, 52 centers, and 1,413 villages.
As part of the Decent Life initiative, banks accomplished the following:
– Opened 506,700 bank accounts
– Deployed 1,217 ATMs
– Issued 723,500 prepaid cards
– Established 7,800 points of sale and quick response (QR) codes
– Enabled 55,500 mobile wallets
– Connected 88,000 customers to online banking services
Additionally, the CBE highlighted the success of the NilePreneurs initiative, launched in February 2019 in collaboration with Nile University, other Egyptian universities, and various local and international entities. This initiative aims to support entrepreneurship and small startups. Notably, it facilitated the provision of EGP 6.3bn in funding to approximately 9,000 clients.
The NilePreneurs initiative achieved the following milestones:
– Establishment of 82 Business Development Service Centers across 23 governorates
– Provision of 430 non-financial services benefiting 147,000 projects (with 66% male and 34% female beneficiaries)
– Support for 291 startups and entrepreneurs through pre-incubation, incubators, and accelerators programs
– Assistance to 832 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in digital transformation
– Participation of 12,000 individuals in education and training programs, resulting in increased revenues for the benefiting companies (approximately EGP 2.2bn).
