Egypt’s Industrial Development Bank pumps $25mn into micro enterprises

Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt (IDWBE) has pumped around 200 million Egyptian pounds (US$25.5 million) to finance micro enterprises, Hamdy Azzam -Executive Board Member- said Wednesday.

This sum is set to be injected into associations and firms that work in micro finance field to be re-loaned to clients, Azzam told Amwal Al Ghad.

He noted that the bank aims at expanding in micro finance field in cooperation with NGOs to make use of their geographical expansion.

Seeking to get loans dedicated for small-sized projects, IDWBE has negotiated with international financial institutions, yet the latter conditioned the Egyptian bank to complete the endorsement of budgets of former years, the banking official stated. Therefore, IDWBE is in the process to ratify its budget for years 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Azzam clarified the bank’s SME direct and indirect portfolio recorded 620 million Egyptian pounds (US$77 million) by the end of September 2015, registering 27 percent growth.

Moreover, the official added that IDWBE targets getting new finance worth 50 million pounds from the Social Fund for Development (SFD) in December 2015.