The Ministry of Social Solidarity, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and several banks, launched the “Herafi” programme to support small makers of handmade and heritage products. The programme is part of the presidential initiative to support irregular workers.
Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El Kabbaj said that the programme targets members of productive cooperative societies, productive families, and small entrepreneurs. She said: “We provide them with several mechanisms within the presidential initiative, such as: facilitating the establishment of micro-enterprises, financing at reduced interest rates, training in small project management, participating in exhibitions and marketing platforms, and raising awareness of pricing and quality improvement of handmade and heritage products.”
She added that these mechanisms aim to boost the handicrafts and heritage sector, within an integrated vision.
El Kabbaj confirmed that the Ministry’s plan for 2024 is based on three aspects: expanding economic empowerment projects for irregular workers, extending insurance and health protection to youth and women in the handicraft sector, and supporting and reviving traditional handicraft industries, which are the great legacy of Egyptian civilization. She also said that the plan aims to provide opportunities to double the exports of the creative economy, which reached $350m in 2023 and employs more than two million people.
Mervat Sabreen, Assistant Minister of Social Solidarity for Protection and Social Safety Networks, indicated that the first phase of the programme aims to train 1,000 small-scale producers in 2024 in various fields of handicrafts, such as jewelry, ceramics, shells, textiles, and traditional fashions. She said that the training also aims to educate them financially by introducing them to the importance of saving and using the financial services provided by various commercial banks, such as bank cards, electronic wallets, and bank accounts for economic activity, which CBE offers free of charge to small craftsmen.
She said that the training also covers how to classify their projects and benefit from the CBE’s initiatives to support small projects, the laws that support small projects, and how to price their products in a way that ensures their marketing without exaggeration.
She added that the training also introduces the facilities of extending insurance protection to workers in the sector, where a document called “Your pension is in your hands” for irregular workers is presented, along with the benefits and mechanism of participation in it, and the benefits provided to the families of those workers.
