World Bank earmarks $200 million for Egypt micro, small-sized projects

The World Bank agreed a $200 million financing to Egypt last month to fund micro and small-sized business, head of the Egyptian MSMEs development agency’s announced on Monday.

The funds will go for micro and small-sized projects as well as non-banking financial operators, including sectors of microfinancing and leasing, Egyptian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency’s (MSMEDA) chairperson Nevine Gamea told Amwal Al Ghad.

MSMEDA, previously known as the Social Fund for Development, is an autonomous development and poverty-alleviation agency, established in 1991 with support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is an agency affiliated to Egypt’s Cabinet, designed to act as a social safety net to undertake the government’s economic reform programme by developing the MSME sector directly or through the coordination of the efforts of the different stakeholders.

Small and medium-sized businesses account for over 90 percent of enterprises in Egypt and contribute to the majority of total employment in the country. That is why increasing access to finance for SMEs has become a top priority for the authorities in Egypt.