Agricultural Bank of Egypt Enhances Investment Support in 2023

The Agricultural Bank of Egypt has strengthened its commitment to financing various types of projects, whether large, medium, small, or even micro-sized, especially within the agricultural sector across all its productive fields. This effort is in line with the bank's continuous endeavor to stimulate investment in this sector and its associated activities.

Results from the bank's operations reflect significant progress made by Agricultural Bank of Egypt in this area. The loan portfolio size reached EGP69.4 bn at the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP60.288 bn at the end of June 2022. Approximately 538,272 clients benefited from these loans.

Loans directed towards financing the agricultural sector and its related industries accounted for around 80% of the credit portfolio. During the first half of the current year, the bank doubled the amount of funding directed towards agricultural crop production, benefiting small-scale farmers with a 5% return.

The portfolio size for agricultural crop loans reached EGP14.503 bn, benefiting hundreds of thousands of farmers. This increase is attributed to the bank's commitment to supporting small-scale farmers through adjustments in lending categories for agricultural crops, which were revised 4 times over 2 years with interest rates ranging from 25% to 70%.

This trend is a result of the Agricultural Bank's desire to assist farmers in coping with the significant rise in production costs and requirements. Notably, contract farming played a substantial role in the bank's policies and operational plans, contributing to an increase in funding for contract farming to EGP2.2 bn, including EGP1.6 bn to support sugarcane cultivation in Upper Egypt through tripartite agreements between the bank, farmers, and sugar factories.

It's worth mentioning that the number of major companies funded by the Egyptian Agricultural Bank has risen to 119 companies operating in the agricultural sector and related activities. Their funding volume reached EGP 12.421 bn by the end of the first half of 2023, compared to EGP7.886 bn at the end of June of the previous year.

The bank also achieved significant growth in the volume of loans directed towards medium, small, and micro-sized activities and projects, accounting for 64% of the loan portfolio, reaching EGP 42.842 bn by the end of June 2023.

Furthermore, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt has shown substantial interest in micro-sized projects. The micro-activities portfolio by the end of June 2023 comprised around 436,012 individuals and companies who received financing totaling EGP32.221 bn.