The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency or MSMEDA is giving out a fund to Beni Suef governorate to provide financial support to small and medium-sized business in rural parts of Egypt.
According to MSMEDA chairperson Nevine Gamea, about 230,000 projects are expected to get funding, creating more than 291,000 jobs in the area.
Besides lending, the chairperson also said that around EGP 330.9 bn are provided for infrastructure projects, training, community development, thus, creating 42,000 jobs.
In an article published by AL-Monitor, Gamea stressed out in the 2019 Arab Forum that 51% of the MSMEDA funded projects are ‘controlled’ by rural women. This means, women will be given the chance to generate more income from business activities.
Egyptian women are on the rise
Several studies, including the joint study conducted by the World Bank and National Council for Women in Egypt, have found out that women are a major driver for small and medium-sized projects in the country.
In fact, there have been a 69% loans given to Egyptian women in 2018, which is meant to fund micro businesses.
It all started when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi state interest in empowering women in 2016. A year after, Sisi also declared 2017 as Year of Women, encouraging banks to increase lending funds to women who run small business enterprise.
The director for Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research also shares the same sentiment with the President saying, “One can say that women are now very eager to prove themselves and to show their potential in all areas, including the economic sphere.”
Meanwhile, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development issues in their Women’s Catalogue about success stories of women engaging in handicraft business. Female entrepreneurs are seen to dominate the SME industry, pioneering in different business ventures.
