Africa faces the problem of inadequate credit to the youth and women. To curb this problem, the World Bank has come up with a $200 million project to boost the small and medium exchanges in business to access credit easily in order to grow their businesses. In a business world where banks dominate lending to of course big businesses leaving behind the small and medium enterprises.
The project, dubbed as ‘The Catalyzing entrepreneurship for Job Creation’ is meant to channel about 4145 million to non-bank financial institutions where the small business people can easily access loans. The project will mostly focus on the new startups by youth and women, new businesses in the low developed regions of Egypt, and all the first-time borrowers.
Speaking regarding the project, Dr. Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s Minister for Investment and International Cooperation and Egypt’s Representative on the World Bank Board of Governors said, “Entrepreneurs- and especially women are a cornerstone of a strong and stable economy. Our partnership with the World Bank aims to empower Egyptian women and youth to become successful entrepreneurs. This is an investment that offers many opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the Egyptians through job creation and contributing a sound foundation for the country’s economy.”
This project has similar goals with ‘Promoting Innovation for Inclusive Financial Access’ program that has provided job opportunities to 300,000 people benefiting 70,000 women and 56,000 youths. The World Bank is the biggest partner in Egypt having started 16 projects with a total of US$6.69vbillion like this one focusing on social protection and financial inclusion for all to develop digital entrepreneurship in Egypt.
The project focuses on increasing the supply of seed, early stage, and venture capital to small and medium enterprises with high potential growth. In the early-stage capital, the World Bank will invest US$50 million to privately managed risk capital intermediaries like angel funds, accelerators, VC funds, and investment companies. The public and international private companies will be invited to apply for these opportunities to show their technical know-how in investing these funds. “Egypt has shown a strong commitment to improving its economy. While the reforms are beginning to bear fruit, enabling the private sector to create jobs and is integral to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth. We are proud to be supporting Egypt’s entrepreneurs across the country, especially the youth and women who remain Egypt most valuable yet most untapped potential,” said Marina Wes, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Djibouti, and Ethiopia.
