The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) is allocating EGP 5.4bn to finance female run micro-projects, according to Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry and MSMEDA CEO. The finance portfolio, aimed especially at Upper Egypt and the country's border governorates, comes as part of the agency's ambitious strategy to advance young women graduates and projects set up by Egyptian women. In a statement on Wednesday, Gamea indicated that 216,000 micro-projects are expected to be implemented over five years through the financing. It will provide approximately 250,000 jobs, pointing out that financing for these types of projects is now available to women through banks and NGOs. She added that the funding is a continuation of the agency's policy of supporting and empowering women. It has previously provided EGP 8bn in funding to women between July 2014 and the end of March 2020, through which over 500,000 projects were implemented. The projects provided 341,000 job opportunities, with women accounting for 46% of the total projects and 54% of new jobs. Gamea explained that over 100,000 have taken advantage of the services provided by one-stop-shop units across Egypt to obtain the necessary documents to set up their projects, including the commercial registry and tax card. The agency has also assisted over 5,000 women in registering with the records of small suppliers at government agencies, in addition to engaging them in a number of commercial chains to market their products. It has also helped them conclude integration deals between projects, and qualify for marketing and export requirements. Gamea confirmed that MSMEDA provides various training programmes in cooperation with various development partners, to provide all the skills necessary for setting up or developing projects. This includes training on handicrafts and heritage programmes for developing entrepreneurial skills and consulting services for businesswomen, and various other programmes that have benefited over 50,000 women so far.
