The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on Friday a new financing package of $50 million to Banque du Caire (BdC) to scale-up support to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and women entrepreneurs in Egypt. Out of the $50 million package, $10 million is earmarked for women entrepreneurs. This credit line to BdC will help raise access to finance for MSMEs in Egypt and expand its outreach to new clients across the country. Under EBRD's Women in Business Programme (WIB), BdC will allocate up to $10 million to women-owned or led enterprises, aiming to alleviate the financing gap for women-led MSMEs and boost their competitiveness. The WIB loan will be also complemented by an EBRD-funded technical co-operation package to provide beneficiaries with advisory services and capacity building. The technical co-operation will also support BDC in testing and rolling-out new WIB products to better meet the needs of women-led MSMEs, improving access to finance. The agreement was signed at EBRD's headquarters in London in the presence of Jürgen Rigterink, EBRD First Vice President; and Tarek Fayed, BdC's Chairman and CEO. "The EBRD is delighted to sign this facility with BdC, reinforcing our strong and strategic partnership. We are very pleased to further support MSMEs, a key segment of the Egyptian economy, as well as foster inclusion by encouraging lending to women-led businesses." EBRD's Rigterink said. For his part, Tarek Fayed said: "We take pride in our strategic partnership with EBRD. BdC is committed to supporting entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs empowering them at all levels. "The EBRD financing will support projects in regions outside of the capital city, capitalising on BdC's geographical presence, especially in Upper Egypt, which accounts for about 55 per cent of BdC's microfinance customer base, of which women and youth also comprise 35 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of our microfinance customer base."
