CONTEXT

MCE Social Capital is a non-profit corporation registered in California. It was set up in 2005 with the aim of contributing to reducing poverty by mobilizing private investment capital to support microenterprises in developing countries.
MCE mainly achieves this objective by financing microfinance institutions (MFIs) which serve a high percentage of women in rural areas and/or those which offer training programs to their borrowers.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The credit line offered to NBE refinances credits with a maturity of over 24 months for small and medium-sized enterprises with a turnover of between EGP 1m and EGP 4m (i.e. between EUR 0.12m and EUR 5m). A quarter of the total amount of loans has been allocated to private schools and health structures. Another quarter has been allocated outside Cairo and Alexandria.

The financing is combined with support to NBE for the implementation of an ambitious in-house training program for staff in charge of the SME activity, assistance for conducting a market study on Egyptian SMEs in order to assess the needs of SMEs and identify the market potential by region and business sector, and a capacity building program for SMEs. This financing tool has provided new development resources and created over 4,200 jobs in 62 Egyptian SMEs in high-potential sectors.

PROJECT IMPACT

• Easier access to credit for some 500 SMEs and increase in the average maturity of the loans allocated.
• Contribution to strengthening the SME fabric in order to promote growth, employment and, indirectly, fight against poverty.
• Improvement in the level of skills of 1,000 people (NBE’s SME staff and small-scale entrepreneurs).