Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa and the most populous in Middle East

North Africa region. According to the World Bank (2008 data), it is estimated that 18.4% of
its population of 83 million lived on less than USD 2 a day,
Human Development Index gives the country a rank of 113th out of 182 countries in 2011.
Estimated market size for microfinance is about 6 million potential clients, of which
approximately 20% are currently served by the sector. Grameen-Jameel works closely with
three microfinance institutions in Egypt and has formed partnerships with them. These
partners collectively serve nearly 300,000 microcredit clients in Egypt (of a total of 1.2M
clients reached by MF) as of March 2012, about 25% of the total market.
These Microfinance institutions are:

Al
Dakahlya

Tadamun
Businessmen

Microfinance
Association
for

Foundation
Community

(Al
Development

Tadamun)
(DBACD)

Lead Foundation (Lead)

http://grameen-jameel.com/about-us/

Egypts cabinet has approved a new law organising and supervising microfinance
through the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) which will allow
companies to enter the industry for the first time, according to a ministerial statement
released on Thursday.
The law aims to motivate informal microenterprises to enter the formal sector by
facilitating access to credit.
Companies specialised in the provision of non-bank microfinance services and
products will be allowed to enter the Egyptian microfinance industry which has so far
been restricted to banks and NGOs.
Mounir Fakhry, Egypt's investments minister, said in the statement that microcredit is
set at a maximum of LE100,000, but the cabinet will have the right to raise the
amount 5 percent annually if requested by the EFSA.
A new unit will be created in the EFSA to implement the law and supervise the
microfinance industry.
Banks and the state-run Social Fund for Development are excluded from the law as
they are subject to central bank supervision, but companies and NGOs will fall under
the EFSA's supervision.

The EFSA asserts on their website that such a move will serve to reduce the creditsupply gap from which the industry suffers.
In a report entitled "Micro-nance in Egypt: Brief Overview of Current Status", EFSA
reveals that by the end of 2009 active microcredit clients in Egypt had exceeded 1.4
million, distributed equally between men and women.
These small loans are provided by more than 400 institutions with a total
outstanding portfolio of LE2.2 billion.
More than 40 percent of the loans are provided in Upper Egypt, while almost threequarters of the loans are directed towards the trade sector, leaving only a quarter to
manufacturing and services sectors.
Microcredit programs were first introduced in Egypt in the 1980s by the National
Bank for Development and Alexandria Businessmen Association along with the
technical and financial support of USAID.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/102517/Business/Economy/Compani
es-to-provide-microcredit-for-the-first-tim.aspx

http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/country/Egypt?
gclid=Cj0KEQiAneujBRDcvL6f5uybhdABEiQA_ojMghNqsN9TcgxrzWfaGdfm22C8jv
ZEWvP8K7P5PcE3ceoaAlVw8P8HAQ
A United Arab Emirates state investment fund announced on Monday it would provide $200 million
in loans for microfinance projects in Egypt, a move it said would create more than 120,000 jobs by
2020.
Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development said it signed the loan agreement with
the Egyptian government in Cairo.
The UAE and other Gulf Arab states have emerged as major donors for Egypt since the army ousted
Egypts first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Mursi, during mass protests against his
rule in 2013.

Khalifa Funds chairman, Hussain al Nowais, said some 100,000 projects and more than 120,000 job
opportunities are likely to be created by 2020 through the funding.
The loan will be directed towards microfinance development in remote and disadvantaged areas
and pockets of poverty throughout Egypt, he said in a statement, adding that it would also help
Egyptian women in rural areas find work.
Khalifa Fund was set up by the Abu Dhabi government in 2007 and finances small and mediumsized enterprises.
Egypt, which is struggling with double-digit unemployment, issued its first law regulating
microfinance services last week, seeing the provision of extremely small loans could help to create
jobs by giving individual entrepreneurs a start.

http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/11/uae-fund-provide-200m-loans-microfinanceprojects-egypt/

..