● Hafiz is an integrated platform that links development partners, international institutions, the government, the business community and the private sector to enhance the benefit of international partnerships.
● For the first time, funding, technical support, tenders and initiatives from development partners are available to the private sector in one platform in both Arabic and English.
● The platform bridges the information gap that prevented many private sector companies from learning about the services available from development partners.
● The platform provides a complete list of services at the level of consulting, capacity building, and financing solutions for various types of private sector companies.
The Ministry of International Cooperation launched the Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector, which is considered an integrated platform that connects development partners and various private sector companies, whether large companies, small, medium and micro companies, or emerging companies, to benefit from development financing, technical support and consultations. The following report includes all the questions raised about the platform and their answers.
What is the Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector?
The Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector is considered an integrated platform that connects development partners, international institutions, the government, and the local business community, to enhance communication and linking between various private sector companies, whether large companies, small, medium and micro companies, or emerging companies to benefit from development funds, technical support and consultations available from development partners.
This platform complements the efforts already made by development partners in developing private sector companies in Egypt, where many projects and success stories have been implemented, whether in financing large, medium or small projects, as well as emerging companies and investment funds.
Why was this platform launched?
The Egyptian state has taken many measures to empower the private sector. The government also held the Egypt 2022 Economic Conference, which included expanded participation from the private sector and development partners, which presented many recommendations and addressed the challenges that prevent the private sector from optimally benefiting from the services available from development partners. The conference recommended launching a private sector participation unit at the Ministry of International Cooperation.
From this standpoint, the Ministry of International Cooperation has been holding many workshops with development partners who continually provide financial and non-financial services to the private sector, in addition to meeting business communities and private sector companies, to discuss challenges and come up with the most prominent mechanisms through which companies can enhance their benefits. Among these services, the Hafiz platform was created, to become the link between the two sides, which provides all financial and non-financial services to the private sector from development partners.
This platform is a comprehensive portal for interaction with the private sector, where private sector institutions of different sizes and sectors can explore and interact with the opportunities, resources and services available through global partnerships with international development partners.
What are the most prominent challenges identified during consultations with development partners and the private sector?
One of the most prominent challenges that have been identified that prevent the private sector from achieving full benefit from international partnerships is the lack of information. Therefore, the Hafiz platform comes to fill the information gap about financial and non-financial services. More challenges have also been identified, most notably the challenges of dealing with information flow, difficulties in searching and communicating in a limited time, difficulty in verifying the reliability of available information, language and communication barriers, lack of local information available to small businesses, security and privacy concerns: concerns related to the security of transactions and financial information, difficulties in accessing technical support and immediate assistance, and the complexity of terms and conditions of international contracts, fraud risks on behalf of international institutions, and costs resulting from international transactions.
How was the Hafiz platform launched for financial and technical support for the private sector?
The Ministry of International Cooperation, in coordination with multilateral and bilateral development partners, provided the Ministry of International Cooperation with a list of tenders and financing tools, and technical support opportunities provided to the private sector, especially emerging companies, and made available a questionnaire to determine the needs of the private sector from development partners as an initial step to launching the platform, and to analyze all country strategies, The diagnostic reports and studies prepared by development partners are relevant to the private sector in order to establish frameworks for coordination between development partners’ activities and projects, and monitor the most prominent successful local models that have benefited from the financing and non-financing services provided by development partners, with the aim of demonstrating the positive impact of investment in the private sector and stimulating more international partners to participate in supporting sustainable development, and holding a series of workshops with development partners to present the services provided to the private sector in order to highlight the comparative advantage provided by each development partner. Then, workshops were held with the participation of concerned parties to design the platform.
What is the list of services that the Hafiz platform provides to the private sector?
The Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector facilitates access to information about financial and technical support directed to the private sector from all international development partners in Egypt. It is a platform designed to be easy to use, as private sector institutions can benefit from the following services:
● Review of financing services, including various financing options such as development financing, direct investment, commercial financing, risk guarantee, grants, and others.
● Search for technical assistance, consulting and capacity-building services.
● Track the latest available tenders and initiatives.
● Find tailored financing solutions
● Meet the needs of companies of all sizes through a tool on the platform to link user needs with the services provided by development partners.
● Provides a chat tool service enhanced by artificial intelligence to support business users browsing the platform, asking questions and obtaining guidance.
● Enhance the business environment in Egypt through international partnerships and provide the necessary tools to enhance its ability to grow in the constantly evolving business world.
Who are the entities targeted by the Hafiz platform?
The platform targets all companies eligible to benefit from development partners, whether large companies, small, medium and micro companies, as well as emerging companies, business unions and associations. The platform’s website includes a narration of success stories implemented in cooperation with development partners and the private sector in Egypt over the past years. The most prominent of which is the Benban Solar Energy Complex, which many companies, whether large or medium, participated in its implementation with financial support from development partners.
How can private sector companies benefit from this platform?
The platform provides an easy user experience by using an instant chat tool enhanced by artificial intelligence (Chatbot) on the platform’s website (https://privatesector.moic.gov.eg) for easy communication with platform users, responding to their inquiries, and improving beneficiaries’ interaction with government services, as users can benefit from Review financing and investment services easily and effectively. This technological approach provides immediate interaction and accurate answers to queries, improving the user experience and enhancing communication between the government and citizens.
By entering the platform, you can learn about a list of services that includes 75 financial and non-financial services, provided by 20 development partners and which is constantly updated, and explore opportunities for obtaining financing, building capabilities, discovering more opportunities for cooperation with development partners, as well as learning about tenders offered by partners, continuous development to implement development projects in Egypt, and the possibility of progressing towards them. Also, requests and inquiries from companies reach the Private Sector Participation Unit of the Ministry of International Cooperation.
How much financial support is provided by development partners to the private sector in Egypt?
Over the past years, many success stories have been implemented between development partners and the private sector in Egypt, and according to the annual report of the Ministry of International Cooperation, the total funds, investments and contributions from development partners in various private sector companies over the period from 2020 to 2023 amounted to about $10.3 billion. The European Investment Bank (EIB) topped the development partners in terms of financing available to the private sector, with a value of $2.8 billion, followed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with financing worth $2.12 billion, while financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) amounted to about $1.66 billion, and the OPEC Fund for International Development contributed with development financing worth $1.27 billion.
To experiment with using the Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector