Sisi’s fund to establish $255mn holding company for SMEs

The Tahya Masr (Long Live Egypt) Fund, originally initiated by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to support national economy, is establishing a holding company by end of next January.

According to Mohamed Ashmawy, executive director of the fund, the planned company will be with a paid-up capital of two billion Egyptian pounds (US$255.4 billion), directed to support and finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt.

The new firm will be 98 percent owned by Tahya Masr Fund; while Egypt’s two biggest state-run banks, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr will contribute 1 percent each, or 400 million pounds to the capital, Ashmawy told Amwal Al Ghad Wednesday.

Additionally, the new firm is set to finance the establishment of comprehensive industrial complexes for the SME projects.

Meanwhile, Ashmawy said his fund contributed around 3 billion pounds to several developmental projects in the country during 2015, notably a new city for the residents of slums in Duweika area of Cairo. The first phase of this city will be inaugurated in two weeks, with total cost amounting to 1.8 billion pounds.