• Egypt’s NBE secures $100M EBRD loan to boost MSME financing
• Funds target youth- and women-led businesses to support private sector growth
• EBRD has invested €13.8B in Egypt since 2012, mostly in private projects

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has secured a 100 million-dollar financing facility from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to expand lending to local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), Egypt’s Ministry of Planning said on Monday.

The agreement was signed by NBE chief executive Mohamed El-Etreby and EBRD first vice president Greg Guyett during Guyett’s three-day visit to Cairo. The funds will be directed toward MSMEs, with a focus on youth-led and women-led businesses.

“The partnership with the EBRD supports government efforts to strengthen the private sector and encourage investment by providing affordable financing,” Minister of Planning Rania Al-Mashat said at the signing ceremony.

Guyett described the financing as “an important milestone” in the EBRD’s long-term engagement in Egypt. “I am confident this partnership will enable the next generation of entrepreneurs to reach their potential and help build a more dynamic and sustainable economy,” he said.

Since extending its operations to the southern and eastern Mediterranean in 2012, the EBRD has invested more than 13.8 billion euros in 209 projects in Egypt, nearly 80 percent of them in the private sector.

Walid Kéfi