Chairperson of Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) Mohamed Emran – File PhotoCAIRO – 30 October 2017: The value of microfinance in Egypt this year reached $6 billion, directed to two million citizens through 880 NGOs and three licensed companies, chairperson of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) Mohamed Emran told press on Monday.Emran added that three companies have applied to obtain a license to operate in the microfinance sector. He clarified that 70 percent of microfinance beneficiaries are women, amounting to 1.4 million, compared to 600,000 men. Most of these are from Upper Egypt.“The non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) play a pivotal role in reaching the marginalized social sectors. The total number of beneficiaries of crowdfunding represented 73 percent of total financing balances, compared to 27 percent for individual lending.In August, EFSA disclosed the first digital map for microfinance that shows the licensed bodies that practice microfinance.The map includes licensed companies, communities and civil organizations, along with their activities in different governorates. It also lists the branches of the macro-financial bodies, their addresses, the number of clients and the value of finance in each governorate.

Source: Egypt Today October 30, 2017 17:03 UTC