The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), an independent agency of the US government, has secured US$250 million in loans for small businesses in Egypt.
According to a statement on OPIC's website, the corporation has agreed to guarantee loans by local banks to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), microfinance institutions, non-banking financial institutions and other approved borrowers for up to US$250 million each for both Egypt and Jordan.
The loans are part of a pledge made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a trip to Egypt and Tunisia in March to provide up to US$2 billion in financial support to help the private sector to grow, OPIC said.
According to a recent study by the International Finance Corporation and McKinsey quoted by the OPIC, there are between 1.9 and 2.3 million formal SMEs in the MENA region, and although more than half of them maintain bank accounts, most do not have access to credit.
Short link: