Microfinance jumps by 18.4% in Q1 of 2023 hitting LE74.8B

CAIRO – 12 July 2023: Chairwoman of the Egyptian Federation for Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprise Funding Mona Zulfacar stated Wednesday that the size of microfinance jumped by 18.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 hitting LE74.8 billion compared to LE63.1 billion in the same period last year.

Further, the number of beneficiaries rose by 7.4 percent to become 4.7 million up from 4.3 million. The breakdown in terms of type of service providers is LE15.7 billion disbursed by civil society to 2.1 million customers; LE25.2 billion disbursed by microfinance firms to 1.8 million customers; and, LE33.8 billion disbursed by banks to 808,000 customers. The funds offered by banks are worth up to LE200,000 each.

As for nano finance, 8,000 beneficiaries received LE10.13 million. On the other hand, the loans provided to small and medium enterprises by firms and associations licensed to offer such services have amounted to LE2.5 billion. The number of customers in that category reached 2,840.

Zulfacar speculates that microfinance would grow more in the coming period, as the Financial Regulatory Authority had raised - by 10 percent - the maximum of a loan provided by firms and civil society to become LE220,000.  

The federation's chairwoman highlighted that members that provide financing to small and medium enterprises are three companies, which are Tasahil, Aman, and Wasila, as well as an association "Al Mobadara."