The Credit Guarantee Company (CGC Egypt) hosted a high-level meeting with a delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) at CGC’s headquarters in the Smart Village on May 31, 2023.
During the meeting, the two parties discussed ways to enhance cooperation to support young entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on empowering women and achieving sustainable development goals, including projects aimed at combating climate change. This would be accomplished by providing the necessary finance for MSMEs through the development of new guarantee products that cater to the needs of this category and the market variables.
Naglaa Bahr, CGC’s Managing Director, and Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of the Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization at the African Investment Bank, along with senior officials from both parties, participated in the meeting.
In her comments on the meeting, Naglaa Bahr, CGC’s Managing Director, highlighted the African Development Bank’s efforts to support MSMEs in Egypt, as well as its new initiatives aimed at financing young entrepreneurs in Egypt, with a special focus on women. She also emphasized the bank’s crucial role in financing green and social initiatives across Africa, particularly in Egypt.
Bahr noted that credit guarantee plays an important role in mitigating the impact of economic challenges facing global financial markets due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and high inflation rates. Credit guarantees can provide and develop guarantee products that correspond to changing market needs and enable SME owners to continue their business activities.
Bahr mentioned that CGC, in cooperation with Egyptian banks, has successfully provided financing of more than EGP 269m to over 206 SMEs by the end of the first quarter of 2023. More than 50% of this financing was directed towards youth and 23% towards women.
Through its “Engz” program and advanced digital platform, CGC Egypt has succeeded in reaching out to a new category of SMEs that have never dealt with banks before. This reflects the company’s new direction to directly reach business owners and young entrepreneurs, in addition to the creation of new working opportunities that benefit from advanced technologies and digital platforms.
The company provides the necessary financing, through partner banks, with the least prices, procedures, and documents, and with no extra expenses. It also provides technical and informational support for business owners to make the best use of the available financing.
Bahr added that the company is in the process of achieving its primary goal of supporting SMEs and contributing to the creation of new job opportunities for youth, enabling them to access financial and non-financial services. CGC is eager to expand its cooperation with regional and international institutions, including the African Development Bank, to exchange experiences and collaborate in this regard.
Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of the African Development Bank Group – Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization, stated that the bank is one of the major development partners in Egypt. He added that the bank recognizes the significance of MSMEs in elevating the level of the private sector by offering job opportunities for youth and women to contribute to sustainable development.
Quaynor noted that the bank, through its new and special initiatives, aims to support the financing of young entrepreneurs. He also stated that guarantee has a vital role in reducing the risks of this financing and encouraging various financial institutions to support it.
It is worth mentioning that CGC Egypt is the only company authorized to issue guarantees in Egypt, thanks to facilitated governmental and international support since its establishment as an Egyptian joint-stock company that follows international operating standards and is subject to the supervision of the Central Bank of Egypt.
