Following Egypt’s 2011 revolution, the US Congress established the EAEF with an aim to back the country’s private sector and to stimulate it after the sharp decline in tourism and foreign direct investment.
The Fund is an implementation of the US Congress’s concept pioneered by the first Bush administration in the early 1990s that focuses on creating private sector-led investment funds that used public funding to build market-based economies in the former Soviet Union.
Such kind of funds provides flexible equity and debt financing to private enterprises in undersupplied capital markets, to help attract additional foreign investment.
According to the report, EAEF invested $50 million through its Lorax Capital Partners Fund, committed $10 million to Fawry Microfinance to provide loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and provided $6.7 million as co-investment in Al-Tayseer Healthcare Group in the underserved Nile Delta region.
“In 2021, we will begin marketing Egypt to US investors. The strong financial and impact returns generated by EAEF should be attractive to US institutions and family investment offices. Raising additional capital from the US to invest in Egypt will help its private sector become the leading engine of growth. It will also help sustain a durable economic relationship between our countries,” said Chairman of EAEF James A. Harmon
He added that as the fund considers the future in the wake of COVID-19, EAEF’s model should now be replicated by the US in countries of Central America, Africa, and Asia that need similar economic support.
This kind of economic development can help create new markets for U.S. products and promote job creation — reducing the likelihood of social and political instability abroad, according to Harmon.
“As we continue advancing EAEF’s mandate, we are pleased to share our second annual impact report highlighting the important returns achieved by our partners,” Harmon added.
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