National Bank of Egypt Recieves $100M from EBRD to Support SMEs

For the third year in a row, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a loan for the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) worth $100 million, in order to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their steps towards green efficiency, climate change mitigation, and adaptation technologies.

The loan will fund SMEs operating in industry, commerce, and agriculture, focusing on companies which have high-growth potential and offer innovative solutions for improving the use of water, energy, and land resources. Some of the funds will also go towards investments in high-performing technologies expected to benefit the wider Egyptian economy.

Fundamentally, the loan seeks to help the NBE strengthen climate corporate governance at the institutional level. Through the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) Technology Selector, businesses will be able to identify all green technologies available in Egypt.

“This is the third EBRD-GEFF loan provided to NBE, which will also benefit from a comprehensive technical cooperation programme,” the EBRD said in a statement.

Egypt is a financing member and shareholder of the EBRD. Since its creation, the financial institution has invested more than $8.89 billion through 130 projects in Egypt. Meanwhile, the NBE—the largest commercial bank in Egypt—began its cooperation with the EBRD in 2013. This has included credit and trade finance lines, support for youth- and female-led businesses, and energy efficiency.

During the height of the pandemic slowdown in 2020, the EBRD launched a programme in partnership with international financial institutions that allocated $800 million in financing to local banks as well as SMEs in the private sector, to support their financial resilience during the crisis.