Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa and the most
populous in Middle East North Africa region. According to the World
Bank (2008 data), it is estimated that 18.4% of its population of
83 million lived on less than USD 2 a day,Human Development Index
gives the country a rank of 113th out of 182 countries in
2011.Estimated market size for microfinance is about 6 million
potential clients, of which approximately 20% are currently served
by the sector. Grameen-Jameel works closely with three microfinance
institutions in Egypt and has formed partnerships with them. These
partners collectively serve nearly 300,000 microcredit clients in
Egypt (of a total of 1.2M clients reached by MF) as of March 2012,
about 25% of the total market.These Microfinance institutions are:
Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation (Al Tadamun) Dakahlya
Businessmen Association for Community Development (DBACD) Lead
Foundation (Lead) http://grameen-jameel.com/about-us/
Egypts cabinet has approved a new law organising and supervising
microfinance through the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority
(EFSA) which will allow companies to enter the industry for the
first time, according to a ministerial statement released on
Thursday.The law aims to motivate informal microenterprises to
enter the formal sector by facilitating access to credit.Companies
specialised in the provision of non-bank microfinance services and
products will be allowed to enter the Egyptian microfinance
industry which has so far been restricted to banks and NGOs.Mounir
Fakhry, Egypt's investments minister, said in the statement that
microcredit is set at a maximum of LE100,000, but the cabinet will
have the right to raise the amount 5 percent annually if requested
by the EFSA.A new unit will be created in the EFSA to implement the
law and supervise the microfinance industry.Banks and the state-run
Social Fund for Development are excluded from the law as they are
subject to central bank supervision, but companies and NGOs will
fall under the EFSA's supervision.The EFSA asserts on their website
that such a move will serve to reduce the credit-supply gap from
which the industry suffers.In a report entitled "Micro-nance in
Egypt: Brief Overview of Current Status", EFSA reveals that by the
end of 2009 active microcredit clients in Egypt had exceeded 1.4
million, distributed equally between men and women.These small
loans are provided by more than 400 institutions with a total
outstanding portfolio of LE2.2 billion.More than 40 percent of the
loans are provided in Upper Egypt, while almost three-quarters of
the loans are directed towards the trade sector, leaving only a
quarter to manufacturing and services sectors.Microcredit programs
were first introduced in Egypt in the 1980s by the National Bank
for Development and Alexandria Businessmen Association along with
the technical and financial support of
USAID.http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/102517/Business/Economy/Companies-to-provide-microcredit-for-the-first-tim.aspx
http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/country/Egypt?gclid=Cj0KEQiAneujBRDcvL6f5uybhdABEiQA_ojMghNqsN9TcgxrzWfaGdfm22C8jvZEWvP8K7P5PcE3ceoaAlVw8P8HAQA
United Arab Emirates state investment fund announced on Monday it
would provide $200 million in loans for microfinance projects in
Egypt, a move it said would create more than 120,000 jobs by
2020.Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development said
it signed the loan agreement with the Egyptian government in
Cairo.The UAE and other Gulf Arab states have emerged as major
donors for Egypt since the army ousted Egypts first freely elected
president, the Islamist Mohamed Mursi, during mass protests against
his rule in 2013.Khalifa Funds chairman, Hussain al Nowais, said
some 100,000 projects and more than 120,000 job opportunities are
likely to be created by 2020 through the funding.The loan will be
directed towards microfinance development in remote and
disadvantaged areas and pockets of poverty throughout Egypt, he
said in a statement, adding that it would also help Egyptian women
in rural areas find work.Khalifa Fund was set up by the Abu Dhabi
government in 2007 and finances small and medium-sized
enterprises.Egypt, which is struggling with double-digit
unemployment, issued its first law regulating microfinance services
last week, seeing the provision of extremely small loans could help
to create jobs by giving individual entrepreneurs a
start.http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/11/uae-fund-provide-200m-loans-microfinance-projects-egypt/
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