Egypt’s sovereign fund, Etisalat Egypt launch Erada Microfinance

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Cairo – The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) and Etisalat Egypt by e& have launched Erada Microfinance to provide access to a wide range of financial services to micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

Enabled by financial technology (FinTech), Erada is granted licence allowing access to a diversified set of innovative financial products for MSEs to expand their businesses, according to a press release on Monday.

The partnership is in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030 aimed at supporting financial inclusion and creating opportunities for the youth.

The founders and shareholding structure of Erada in addition to TSFE and Etisalat Egypt by e&, includes Amr Abouelazm, an industry veteran in the area of non-banking financial services who has also been appointed as Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Erada.

In Egypt, the number of beneficiaries who have received microfinance loans is on the rise, with a 46% annual growth rate according to the end of September 2022, reaching some EGP 35.50 billion, and 3.80 million beneficiaries, of which 60% were women amounting to 2.30 million beneficiaries, and 64% were youth.

CEO of TSFE Ayman Soliman said that Egypt is well positioned for an immediate and full launch of its digital economy in line with TSFE's Financial Services and Fintech Subfund's strategy of creating value and returns across all sectors.

In 2021, the global leading technology conglomerate e& reported consolidated revenues of AED 53.30 billion and consolidated net profit of AED 9.30 billion. Over the span of 15 years, Etisalat Egypt’s investments have exceeded EGP 70 billion.