Nevine Gamea, head of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) said that the authority implemented a programme to support businesswomen, in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and funded by the Middle East and North Africa Transformation Fund.
“The programme aims to promote and support the concept of entrepreneurship among women,” Gamea said.
She added that the programme provided 357 women with training on entrepreneurship, in addition to providing consultancy services in marketing and management to 145 female clients and providing funding of EGP 37m through the SMEDA’s offices to 33 women and girls who participated in the training courses.
“The programme also offered a package of non-financial services to 25 female clients,” she noted.
She explained that the second phase of the programme is being implemented now and it will be completed by April 2019, pointing out that the second phase will include the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Sixth of October, Helwan, Qalyubia, Gharbia, Assiut, Sohag, Alexandria, Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, Minya, and Daqahlia.
Gamea assured that supporting women’s economic and social empowerment is one of the most important axes of the SMEDA’s strategy at this stage, by providing funding for women and girls’ projects, either through direct financing or through development partners, such as banks and NGOs, with the expansion of the provision of non-financial services to encourage Egyptian women to enter the entrepreneurship field and to enter into self-employment.
