Banque Misr pens $100mln loan with JICA for SME lending

ArabFinance: Banque Misr signed a $100 million (EGP 1.57 billion) financing deal with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Banque Misr said in a press release on April 5^th.

This is the First Private Sector Investment Finance (PSIF) cooperation for JICA in Egypt.

The deal aims at supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt.

The newly signed facility also aims at boosting the MSMEs' ability to lead Egypts economic growth through the improvement of access to finance for MSMEs.

The facility, which focuses on supporting Women-owned MSMEs in Egypt, falls in line with the governments efforts in expanding the financing of MSMEs towards reducing unemployment, advancing the national economy and mitigating the negative impact of COVID-19.

This project will also be regarded as the First Project under the (Sustainable Finance Framework), which was newly established between JICA and SMBC in order to facilitate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) finance and contribute to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through partnership, in line with international principles of social financing, the bank said.

JICA has an on-going portfolio of cooperation with the Government of Egypt of almost $3 billion as Government-to-Government cooperation.

Banque Misr is the second largest bank in Egypt with a clear focus on MSME lending and a large retail presence across Egypt.