The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) and Etisalat Egypt by e& have on Monday partnered together to launch a new company, Erada Microfinance that gives access to a wide range of financial services to SMEs.
Enabled by fin-tech, Erada has been granted a licence, providing it an access to a diversified set of innovative financial products for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand their businesses.
The partnership is in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030 of supporting financial inclusion and creating opportunities for the youth through providing innovative financial services and digitally enabled lending products.
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 and CEO of Erada.
In Egypt, the number of beneficiaries who have received microfinance loans is on the rise, with a 46 percent annual growth rate according as of the end of September 2022, reaching approximately 35.5 billion Egyptian pounds, and 3.8 million beneficiaries. 60 percent of the beneficiaries were women amounting to 2.3 million, and 64 percent were youth.
Minister of Planning Hala al-Saeed, who is also chairperson of TSFE, said that the establishment of Erada is in alignment with the Egyptian government’s directives to facilitate SME’s access to financing and creating additional job opportunities for the youth.
The fintech-enabled businesses with strong financing facilities are supporting Egypt’s digital transformation and financial inclusion agenda across all vital economic sectors to achieve the 2030 Vision as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals; SDG 5: Gender Equality; and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, al-Saeed added.
Ayman Soliman, CEO of TSFE, said the launch of Erada is carried out through the Fund’s Financial Services and Fintech Subfund in partnership with Etisalat Egypt by e&, and Amr Abo El Azm.
Source: https://en.amwalalghad.com/sovereign-fund-of-egypt-etisalat-egypt-launch-erada-microfinance/
