Bassil Rahmy, CEO of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), announced that between July 2014 and August 2025, the agency has allocated around EGP 4.9bn to finance 128,290 small and micro projects in Egypt's border governorates, creating approximately 228,597 job opportunities. He added that an additional EGP 232.6m was directed to community and human development projects in those regions, generating nearly 2.6 million workdays. Rahmy made the remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Tuesday to review MSMEDA's efforts in promoting inclusive development across border governorates. He noted that from January to August 2025 alone, MSMEDA provided EGP 258m in funding for 1,961 small and micro projects, creating more than 7,000 jobs. Rahmy highlighted that Egypt hosts around 145 productive clusters, 63% of which specialise in heritage and traditional crafts. Of these, 25 clusters are located in border governorates — including seven in Marsa Matrouh, six in Aswan, two in South Sinai, four in North Sinai, three in the Red Sea, and three in the New Valley. He explained that MSMEDA, in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), is working to strengthen the capacities of these clusters by developing technical skills, particularly among women's handicraft collectives. According to Rahmy, MSMEDA has financed 2,259 handicraft projects worth EGP 86.4m across border regions between July 2014 and August 2025. The agency also launched the National Handicrafts and Heritage Strategy on the sidelines of the Turathna (Our Heritage) exhibition, aiming to develop 15 natural craft clusters nationwide. The Turathna 2025 exhibition featured 60 exhibitors, 58% of whom were women from border governorates, generating EGP 36m in total sales and contracts. In addition, ten local exhibitions were organised with 47 exhibitors from the same regions, achieving EGP 1.5m in sales and contracts. Five exhibitors also represented Egypt in international fairs held in Bahrain, China, and the United Kingdom, securing EGP 1.6m in deals. Preparations are currently underway for participation in upcoming events in Senegal and Algeria. Rahmy further revealed that MSMEDA issued 14,000 temporary licenses for new projects, while 12,000 projects received final licenses. In addition, 1,361 temporary licenses were granted for enterprises seeking to regularise their status. To streamline procedures, a cooperation protocol was signed between the Ministry of Local Development's commercial licensing centres and MSMEDA's one-stop-shop units to enable electronic linkage and accelerate application processing within ten days. Since July 14, MSMEDA has received 247 electronic applications for project licenses, including 51 from Matrouh, eight from North Sinai, 30 from Aswan, 49 from the New Valley, and 109 from the Red Sea. Rahmy also announced that MSMEDA has completed a comprehensive study identifying investment opportunities in border governorates, based on the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) investment map, in coordination with relevant entities. The agency is currently developing tailored financial products to meet the needs of these regions. He added that several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) have been signed with Arish, King Salman, Matrouh, and New Valley universities to foster entrepreneurship and self-employment, noting that these initiatives have significantly boosted MSMEDA's entrepreneurial outreach over the past two years. Rahmy reiterated the agency's commitment to expanding business development services in border areas, including financial and non-financial awareness programmes, specialised marketing consultations, and educational sessions on Law No. 152 on small enterprise development and its accompanying incentives and facilitation measures.
