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Egypt's microfinance portfolio stands at EGP 17.8bn end-March: FRA 2,700 citizens use nano-finance products with loans amounting to EGP 650,000 end-May, says Omran
Egypt's microfinance portfolio reached about EGP 17.8bn benefiting 3.2 million people until the end of March 2020, according to Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) Mohamed Omran. The microfinance companies' share of the total figure reached about 52%, while NGOs category (A) provided about 40%. The remaining 8% share was divided equally among category B and category C of NGOs. Of the 3.2 million beneficiaries of the microfinance portfolio, 63% were female and 37% were male. Omran said the finance portfolio was distributed among economic activities, of which 61% went to commercial activities, 16% to service activities, 15% to agricultural activities, and 8% to productive activities. Of the microfinance services funding, about 40% went to Upper Egypt, 27% to the Delta regions, 10% to Alexandria, 16% in Greater Cairo, and 6% in the Suez Canal area. Omran indicated that the recent period until the end of May witnessed good results in terms of nano-finance that was approved by the Authority's in November 2019, noting that the nano-finance portfolio reached about EGP 650,000 serving more than 2,700 customers. This mainly depends on digital technologies to support the most vulnerable groups, including street vendors, small farmers, marginalised groups, fresh graduates, and mothers who are the breadwinners for their families. The rate of non-cash payment methods increased among microfinance activities, as the digital cash instalments reached EGP 99m provided by 43,000 clients. A total of EGP 405m in finance was granted to 30,000 customers through electronic means at the end of February 2020.
