The Social Fund for Development (SFD) financed 27,200 small and micro businesses with EGP 784.6m during the first quarter (Q1) of 2016. According to the SFD's report, the fund lent EGP 154.6m to 1,666 projects directly, while 2,670 projects borrowed EGP 287.3m from the fund through intermediaries. The total loans provided to the small projects amounted to EGP 441.9m. The total loans provided to 37,400 micro businesses in Q1 of 2016 amounted to EGP 333.6m, and another EGP 9.1m were lent to micro businesses, in cooperation with community development institutions. According to the report, projects in the commercial sector accounted for 60% of the small and micro projects that borrowed from the social fund. The total loans provided to projects in this sector registered EGP 444.4m across 28,400 projects. Projects for animal production represented 22% of the total projects that borrowed from the fund in this sector, with 10,600 projects that were lent EGP 85m. As for projects in the services sector, 5,900 projects obtained finances worth EGP 162.8m, and this sector represents13% of the small and micro businesses financed by the fund. Projects in the industrial sector obtained loans worth EGP 82.7m for 1,800 projects, representing 4% of the projects financed by the fund. Freelance projects were also financed with EGP 12.7m across 389 projects. According to the report, EGP 10,000 loans registered 24% of the total finances provided by the SFD in Q1 of 2016, while loans amounting from EGP 10,000 to EGP 25,000 registered 21%. Loans valued from EGP 50,000 to EGP 200,000 represented 18%, while EGP 200,000 to EGP 500,000 loans represented 11%. Loans worth EGP 1m to EGP 2m represented 10%, and loans worth EGP 500,000 to EGP 1m accounted for 7% of the total. The share of the loans worth more than EGP 2m represented 0.3% of the total funds provided by the organisation.
