Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat has announced that the Saudi Arabia Grant Management Committee will provide EGP 270m to three Egyptian banks to finance micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs). The committee has decided that Banque Misr would benefit from its financing, and will receive EGP 70m to finance machinery and equipment for factories. This includes transport means for the activity, equipment and medical devices for laboratories and hospitals. Meanwhile, the Industrial Development Bank (IDB) will receive EGP 100m, to finance two clean energy programmes and purchase new and used machines and equipment. Meanwhile, Banque du Caire will receive an amount of EGP 100m to finance micro-enterprises. The financing comes at the conclusion of the committee's three-day meetings at Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation. Minister Al-Mashat welcomed the committee members' return visit to Cairo after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and expressed her happiness with the committee's continued work during the pandemic. This took place through visual communication, in order to ensure the continued achievement of its development goals by supporting MSMEs. She stressed that the committee's decision to provide the funds as part of the framework of the grant's vision, which is to strengthen concessional financing mechanisms to support MSMEs and create job opportunities. This is in addition to the diversity of sectors that each of the mentioned banks will target, which will benefit about 7,000 customers in various economic activities. Saudi Arabia has provided a $200m grant, with the aim of supporting the state's efforts to bridge the gap between financial institutions and MSMEs. This is also to facilitate their access to financing through intermediaries, in light of the paramount importance of these projects to the Egyptian economy, as it is a potential force that supports economic growth. Minister Al-Mashat pointed out that the Ministry of International Cooperation is keen to exploit partnerships with multilateral and bilateral development partners to harness the potential for the development of MSMEs. It is worth noting that the total funding provided by the Saudi Arabia Grant Management Committee to finance MSMEs since the beginning of its work stands at about EGP 1.5bn. This has contributed to financing 2,500 projects in 27 governorates, providing about 12,000 job opportunities. The most prominent intermediary agencies through which grant funds are provided are the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA). This is in addition to the beneficiaries of direct grant funds, most notably: EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions; Inmaa Leasing,; Plus Leasing; ValU; the Global Leasing Company; the UE Finance; Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE); and the Contact Leasing Corporation.
