Fawry for electronic payment solutions and digital financial services announced Monday that the total value of loans granted through its subsidiary, Fawry Microfinance, has reached EGP 1bn since its inception. Fawry Microfinance was established in 2018 with the aim of providing entrepreneurs from small companies across the country with affordable financial solutions, benefiting from a sophisticated digital system for granting loans and collecting instalments. The company's activities in microfinance have contributed to supporting the country's efforts in achieving financial inclusion and promoting the digital transformation of financial services. Despite the negative effects resulting from the spread of the coronavirus, which cast a shadow on the Egyptian and global economy, including supply and supply chain disruptions and high inflation rates, Fawry Microfinance succeeded in achieving better rates of growth in the company's loan portfolio during 2021. The total loans in the Fawry Microfinance portfolio amounted to EGP 437m by the end of December 2021, representing an annual growth rate of 67%, compared to EGP 267m at the end of 2020, accompanied by the collection rate reaching 98.5% by the end of 2021. Fawry's microfinance operations reflect Fawry's commitment to implementing sustainability goals in conjunction with the strenuous efforts made by the Egyptian government to achieve financial inclusion in addition to creating new job opportunities, providing financing to young entrepreneurs, which will contribute to creating more new opportunities and maximising the benefit of the vast human energies that Egypt has, where the percentage of Fawry Microfinance clients who are under 30 years old is more than 40%. Additionally, Fawry is committed to achieving the strategic objective of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to enhance financial inclusion and financial education in rural areas, as the services provided by the Fawry Microfinance are not limited to major governorates only but extend to 25 out of the 27 governorates of the republic, with significant coverage in rural areas and areas not covered by such economic services. In this context, CEO of Fawry Ashraf Sabry explained that the positive returns of implementing financial inclusion initiatives are emerging day after day, noting that providing financial services at reasonable prices to small and medium-sized companies — which represent the majority of the workforce in Egypt — will allow them to expand and pump more of investments, job creation, and promotion of comprehensive economic development. He added that Fawry Microfinance is proud of its track record of achievements in creating tangible opportunities for entrepreneurs and family businesses, allowing them to develop their investments in the future and enhance the government's efforts to achieve sustainable development by expanding the scope of financial services to include marginalised groups. At the end of 2021, retailers represented the majority of Fawry's 33,000 clients in addition to a limited number of clients specialised in providing simple services. It is noteworthy that nearly 60% of the company's customers are Fawry customers who subscribe to the merchant network through Fawry's electronic payment channels, which allows the company to provide them with a large variety of services with ease, from receiving payment acceptance services to creating a private electronic trade platform.
