Basil Rahmi, CEO of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), announced that from July 2014 to February 2024, the agency has disbursed over EGP 50bn in loans to small and micro enterprises across Egypt, creating more than three million job opportunities. A significant portion of this funding, 47%, was directed to Upper Egypt's governorates, reflecting their financial needs and developmental priorities. Following were the governorates of Nile Delta with 36%, urban regions with 12%, and border areas receiving 5%. In MSMEDA's recent statement, Rahmi highlighted the entrepreneurial sector's "golden era" under President El-Sisi's leadership. The president's unparalleled focus on MSMEs led to numerous initiatives that bolstered both female and male entrepreneurs, providing a suite of services, tax breaks, incentives, and support measures to facilitate business startups. A key initiative by President Sisi was the enactment of the new Enterprise Development Law No. 152 of 2020, establishing a robust framework and a supportive regulatory, legislative, and procedural climate for nurturing Egypt's next generation of entrepreneurs. Beneficiaries of the agency's services over the last nine years have expressed gratitude for the significant growth in project development under President Sisi's governance. Rahmi also noted MSMEDA's ongoing provision of non-financial services across Egypt through its one-stop-shop units in agency branches, serving roughly 181,000 clients with a full spectrum of services, including licensing, project classification, national IDs, commercial records, tax cards, and social insurance. In the training domain, the agency has equipped over 71,000 individuals with entrepreneurial skills. To assist clients in marketing their products, MSMEDA organized 1,283 exhibitions with 29,127 enterprise owners participating, achieving sales and contracts totalling around EGP 1.143bn. Detailing MSMEDA's role in the Decent Life initiative, Rahmi mentioned that from January 2021 to February 2024, over EGP 3bn was allocated to village projects within the initiative, 77% of which benefited Upper Egypt, funding approximately 116,800 small and micro enterprises and creating around 202,000 jobs in these areas. For infrastructure endeavours, Rahmi shared that MSMEDA provided over EGP 3bn in grants for infrastructure, development, community, and training projects, accounting for more than 45.7% of the agency's total funding since its establishment and generating over 34 million workdays for casual labourers in the respective governorates.
