News
MSMEDA injects EGP 8 billion into finance over 18 months, creates nearly 400,000 jobs
Basel Rahmi, CEO of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), announced that the agency has financed projects valued at EGP 8 billion from January 2023 until the end of June 2024. This financing has generated 397,400 job opportunities and supported 195,600 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
During a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Monday, Rahmi stressed the agency’s commitment to meeting its financial obligations on time, emphasizing MSMEDA’s role as a reliable financial institution within Egypt’s economic structure.
Rahmi detailed the agency’s non-financial services, noting that it has provided entrepreneurship training to more than 17,000 interns, issued more than 15,000 temporary licenses for new projects, connected 389 projects through supply chains, and assisted in obtaining 4,721 tax cards and 696 business registrations. In addition, the agency has facilitated 433 business-to-business (B2B) integration agreements.
MSMEDA has organized 215 national exhibitions, benefiting approximately 4,618 exhibitors, and 12 international exhibitions, benefiting 90 exhibitors. Since its inception in 2019, the “Our Heritage” exhibition has provided contractual and sales opportunities worth approximately EGP 428.8 million to more than 4,886 exhibitors over five years.
In terms of community and human development, MSMEDA has provided over 529,000 man-days of work, financed projects worth EGP 185 million and employed 3,253 young men and women.
Rahmi reviewed MSMEDA’s contributions to the national “Ebda” (Start) initiative for the development of the Egyptian industry. He highlighted the signing of a cooperation protocol between MSMEDA and the “Ebda” company in April 2021 to offer the necessary services to the initiative’s clients through the agency’s branches. Daily communication with project owners to introduce MSMEDA’s services is ongoing.
Under this initiative, MSMEDA visited 1,960 projects and provided financing for 35 projects worth EGP 38.2 million, with financing for 10 projects worth EGP 23 million in progress. The agency also delivered 72 non-financial services, issued 12 final licenses and 118 classification certificates.
Regarding the “Entlaq” (Launch) initiative, Rahmi stated that coordination is underway to sign a cooperation protocol between MSMEDA and “Entlaq” to raise awareness among entrepreneurs and startups about incentives and facilities under Law No. 152. The initiative aims to evaluate and propose amendments to the law’s provisions regarding entrepreneurship and startups, prepare a user-friendly report mapping government services, and launch a biannual diagnostic report on Egypt’s entrepreneurship sector.
In the national project to convert vehicles to run on natural gas, Rahmi revealed that from January 2021 to June 2024, MSMEDA financed the conversion of more than 70,000 vehicles at a cost of EGP 602.5 million. This represents 40 percent of the total vehicles converted in Egypt during the same period. The agency also contributed to converting the cities of Luxor, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada into green cities in collaboration with “Car Gas” and “Gastec”, converting 1,798 vehicles to natural gas.
In addition, MSMEDA is finalizing the national strategy to develop handicrafts and heritage industries in collaboration with the French Development Agency, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Culture. The agency is also working on the national strategy to integrate the informal sector into the formal economy and revive the Arab Union for Small Enterprises in coordination with the Arab League and the Council for Arab Economic Unity.
Prime Minister Madbouly directed the provision of the necessary financing to assist farmers in converting sugarcane cultivation to modern irrigation systems instead of traditional flood irrigation. This aligns with MSMEDA’s focus on Upper Egypt and on agricultural and production projects.