Cabinet approves $50-million soft financing deal by Arab country

CAIRO – 17 March 2021: The Cabinet approved Wednesday a soft financing deal between Egypt and Kuwait's Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. The deal is worth $50 million and is targeted at funding micro, small and medium enterprises.

The deal inked in January is subject to the endorsement of the president, and is expected to contribute to the reduction of unemployment and increase of production.  

Local Development Fund agreed in January to finance 203 small and micro projects with investments exceeding LE 2.3 million in 9 governorates, according to Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy.

Shaarway added that the governorates are: Minya, Sohag, Beni Suef, Dakahlia, Gharbia, Luxor, New Valley, Sharkia and Menoufia, pointing out that the projects include 130 projects for women, representing 64 percent of the total projects.

He said that the report he had received on the efforts of the Local Development Fund since the beginning of the current fiscal year in July 2020 until the end of January 2021 referred to the financing of 2,194 small and micro-projects with investments of LE 24.3 million.

The minister explained that the most popular governorates with the Fund’s loans, are Minya 445 projects, Dakahlia 389 projects, Sohag 290, Gharbia 269 and Sharkia 174 projects.

He pointed out that the percentage of projects implemented by women exceeded 80 percent in the governorates of Qalyubia, Giza, Beheira, and North Sinai.