Egypt’s AAIB bank signs SME loan deal with EBRD: sources

Egypt’s Arab African International Bank has signed a financing deal with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance small and medium-sized companies, sources with direct knowledge said Thursday.

Since May, AAIB has been in ongoing talks with EBRD for a $60 million loan in addition to some other international financial institutions, sources in the Egyptian banks told Amwal Al Ghad in previous statements.

AAIB has been also negotiating for a $50 million loan from the SANAD Fund for MSMEs, part of the German state-run Kfw Development Bank.

The Egyptian bank had signed earlier this year another foreign loan worth $100 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Several banks in Egypt had recently secured dollar-dominated loans from international financial institutions to bolster foreign currency liquidity.

EBRD is studying giving a number of banks in Egypt new loans ranging between $200 million and $300 million within this year, said Janet Heckman, the managing director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean, in late May without disclosing the names of those banks.

The loans are to support the development of small and medium-sized businesses as well as trade activities in Egypt, Heckman added in an interview with Amwal Al Ghad.