Agricultural Bank of Egypt signs a cooperation protocol with MSMEDA

Dr. Hala Helmy el-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, along with Basel Rahmi, CEO of the Project Development Agency, and Alaa El-Din Farouk Zaki, Chairman of the Board of

Agricultural Bank, witnessed the signing of a new financing contract between the Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises Development Agency and the Egyptian Agricultural Bank.

This signing comes within the framework of Egyptian Family Development Initiative - Bab Rizk with a total financing amount of EGP60 mn, funded by the French Development Agency's agreement for women's support in financing micro projects.

The signing ceremony was attended by Dr. Ahmed Kamaly, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Khaled Zakaria, Advisor to the Minister of Planning for Public Policies and Structural Reforms, and Dr. Amira Tawadros, Director of the Demographic Center.

The contract was signed by Nevine Badr El-Din, Head of the Central Sector for Microfinance at the Project Development Agency.

Dr. Hala El Said stated that the National Family Development Project aims primarily to improve population characteristics and regulate population growth rates, enabling the Egyptian society to benefit from the fruits of development and achieve the goals of Egypt's Vision 2023.

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development explained that the signed protocol between the project, the Agricultural Bank, and Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises Development Agency reflects the Family Development Project's keenness to mobilize all efforts and build partnerships with all state institutions to achieve its desired objectives, which were formulated according to the project's five axes, with economic empowerment of women being a top priority.

She pointed out that the signed protocol today provides financing for various projects for Egyptian women, enabling them to improve their economic conditions and help them cope with the burdens of life, granting them an opportunity to live a decent life.

El Said added that the National Family Development Project, with its various axes represented by awareness, legislative reform, service digitization, and providing healthcare services, is being actively pursued.

She further explained that the coming period will witness a definite activation of the positive incentives axis, including material incentives represented by the insurance document that grants women financial amounts of up to EGP60,000, in addition to non-material positive incentives that will be announced soon.

Dr. Hala El Said expressed her gratitude to the organizers of Bab Rizk program for providing employment opportunities and Bab Rizk for Women in the Egyptian Family Development Project.

On his part, Basel Rahmi affirmed that the project aims to support state initiatives and finance micro projects owned by women to assist them in continuing or financing new projects.

Rahmi emphasized that the agency is keen on implementing the directives of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Agency's Board of Directors, to increase the portfolio allocated for financing micro projects in general and focus on women and youth in particular, as well as activate cooperation mechanisms with development partners to support the micro projects sector and expand the provision of funding outlets for these projects.

He explained that the new contract with the Egyptian Agricultural Bank allows financing up to EGP 100,000 per loan and provides access to the largest segment of clients through the bank's widely distributed branches, especially in targeted villages and rural areas.

Rahmi added that around 3,000 micro-projects will be funded during the project's duration, with priority given to the residents of villages in Decent Life initiative in twenty governorates. This will help expand the financing of micro-projects owned by women in various productive, commercial, service, handicraft, and heritage sectors, particularly in border and Upper Egypt, as well as in various villages and hamlets in Egypt.

He pointed out that the collaboration between the agency and the Egyptian Agricultural Bank in the field of financing micro-projects amounted to a total value of EGP156 min, which were used as revolving loans, funding over 20,000 micro-projects totaling more than EGP160 mn through the bank's branches spread across the country.

Alaa Farouk, confirmed the bank's commitment to directing all its efforts towards achieving rural development, in implementation of the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the President of the Republic, and in line with the goals of the presidential initiative Decent Life.

Farouk explained that this comes with the aim of providing job opportunities and improving the living standards of a wide sector of the rural population, commending the cooperative efforts between the Egyptian Agricultural Bank and the Project Development Authority, which represents a successful model of integration between state institutions to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.

He also confirmed that the value of financing contracts between the bank and the agency has reached EGP 3.583 bn so far, fully utilized in financing small and micro-projects in various sectors for about 160,000 clients.

Farouk pointed out that today's contract signing represents confirmation of this cooperation, especially as it aims to finance 3000 micro-projects for rural women as part of the Egyptian Family Development Initiative, through the Microfinance Program Bab Rizk, launched by the Egyptian Agricultural Bank to serve as a financial gateway to empower rural women and women who support their families in rural villages.

He explained that Bab Rizk has succeeded so far in providing financing to around 44,521 clients in all governorates, with a total value exceeding EGP463.8 mn.