Through a loan agreement with the World Bank, the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) provided over EGP 1 billion for innovative projects to MSMEs all over the country.

The agency has received $50 million through the loan agreement, signed in 2020, out of a total $200 million, said Tarek Shash, Vice Executive Director of MSMEDA.

According Shash, the MSMEDA contributed EGP 250 million through its resources, with total funding at EGP 1 billion. This is distributed to financing several projects, in which the fund contributes to for a period of 7 or 8 years before exiting once the projects have become successful.

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Shash’s remarks came on the sidelines of a symposium held by the Egyptian-Lebanese Association for Businessmen, under the title “Entrepreneurship, Industry, and Youth – The Future Trilogy of the New Republic”, earlier this week.

The agency invests through venture capital funds, which evaluates the project’s risks and aims to finance companies that rarely find funding through traditional financing channels. Shash points out that these types of funds have limited resources, with the need for external financing.

Shash emphasized that in order to support innovative companies, it is necessary to enter this field by financing specialized funds, by studying the fund and evaluating its experience and the investments in which it intends to participate.

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Demand is high, with MSMEDA receiving more than 20 requests from funds, of which they have approved 9.

The agency has allocated EGP 500 million to 6 funds through which they finance around 250 to 300 companies within 3 years in different sectors, including information technology, health, education, agriculture, and others.