Egypt has signed Wednesday an agreement with the United National Development Programme (UNDP) to establish its first national impact investment fund. The fund will facilitate grants and market capital for businesses, especially startups as well as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that will contribute towards the achievement of any of the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals. Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr has signed the letter of intent with Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP Egypt Country Director. "This initiative is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa, thus positioning Egypt as a champion and leader in innovative and sustainable alternative finance for development." a UNDP statement reads. The partnership aims at promoting impact investments in Egypt, facilitating blended financing, supporting the growth of impact-oriented start-ups, and strengthening ecosystem stakeholders in collaboration with Egypt's Startup Investment Fund and outreach programme. The Fund will be co-financed by the UNDP and Egypt's Entrepreneurship Company, which is recently established by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, Minister Nasr said. UNDP will provide capacity-building and advisory services to the entrepreneurship incubator, besides providing technical assistance relating to entrepreneurship in Egypt, including promotion proposals, training and conferences, she added. Establishing an entrepreneurship incubator to support emerging development projects and encourage investments that contribute to achieving development goals in areas of eliminating poverty, and providing job opportunities and renewable energy will be among the fund's first activities, Nasr noted. She further said that the fund aims to increase support for the private sector to participate in the development process, explaining that it connected development goals with investments that have social and environmental dimensions with a view to provide better services to citizens at lower costs.
