• EBRD financing package of US$50 million to Banque du Caire for on-lending to MSMEs and women-led private businesses
• Package to focus on companies operating outside Cairo
• Package to include business advice and capacity-building opportunities for women-led SMEs

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a financing package of US$50 million (€46 million) to Banque du Caire (BDC), one of Egypt’s largest banks, to scale up support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, of which US$10 million (€9.2 million) is earmarked for women entrepreneurs.

The credit line to BDC will help to increase access to finance for MSMEs in Egypt and expand its outreach to new clients across the country.

Under the EBRD’s Women in Business (WiB) programme, BDC will allocate up to US$10 million (€9.2 million) to women-owned or led enterprises, with the aim of alleviating the financing gap for those enterprises and boosting their competitiveness.

The WiB loan will be complemented by an EBRD-funded technical cooperation package that will provide beneficiaries with advisory and capacity-building services. The package will also support BDC in testing and rolling out new WiB products to better meet the needs of women-led MSMEs, improving access to finance.

The agreement was signed at the EBRD’s headquarters in London in the presence of Jürgen Rigterink, EBRD First Vice President and Head of Client Services Group, and Tarek Fayed, BDC Chairman and CEO.

Jürgen Rigterink said: "The EBRD is delighted to sign this facility with BDC, reinforcing our strong and strategic partnership. We are very pleased to further support MSMEs, a key segment of the Egyptian economy, and foster inclusion by encouraging lending to women-led businesses."

Tarek Fayed said: "We take pride in our strategic partnership with the EBRD. BDC is committed to supporting entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs, and empowering them at all levels. The EBRD financing will support projects in regions outside the capital city, capitalising on BDC’s geographical presence, especially in Upper Egypt, which accounts for about 55 per cent of BDC’s microfinance customer base, of which women and youth comprise 35 per cent and 40 percent respectively."

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of the Bank’s operations there in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €11 billion in 174 projects in the country. The EBRD’s areas of investment include the financial sector, agribusiness, manufacturing and services, as well as infrastructure projects such as power, municipal water and wastewater services, and contributions to the upgrade of transport services‎.