"Women in Business: Supporting Female Entrepreneurship in Egypt"

A program to support women business owners in Egypt could provide a roadmap for global societies to drive gender-equality prosperity. This was discussed during an extensive workshop at the Egypt - International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF), launched by the country’s Ministry of International Cooperation under the Patronage of H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The workshop session included various representatives including H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation; Dr. Heike Harmgart, Managing Director, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region, EBRD; Dr. Maya Morsy, President, National Council for Women; Mr. Ibrahim Laafia, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Egypt; Ms. Suzanne Mikhail, Regional Director for Arab States, UN Women and Ms. Christine Arab, Country Representative, UN Women. The speakers also included Ms. Margaret Sancho, Deputy Mission Director at USAID in Cairo; Mr. Andreas Schaal, Director of OECD Global Relations; Mr. Amro Abouesh, Chairman & Managing Director, Tanmeyah and Mr. Mike Taylor, Director, Head of FI SEMED, EBRD. During the workshop, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, pointed out that gender equality is at the heart of Egypt’s development agenda and stressed that women have a vital role to play in a post-pandemic world, noting that female-led businesses need worldwide cohesive support to ensure they flourish. “This is a topic close to everyone’s heart – be it policy makers, the private sector or civil society,” Al-Mashat said, while opening the panel discussion ‘Women in Business: Supporting Female Entrepreneurship in Egypt’. “Economic empowerment of women adds extensive benefits to the macroeconomy. It goes beyond the strategy of leaving no one behind,” she added, noting that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality cuts across all 17 UN SDGs. Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation introduced the Forum to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Women in Business program (WiB) in Egypt, aimed at strengthening the role of female entrepreneurs in the country’s economy. The program provides finance, business advice, training and mentoring to female-led SMEs through targeted credit lines and flagship advisory and skills development programs. For his part, Mike Taylor, Director of Financial Institutions for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region at EBRD, explained that the WiB program now exists in 24 countries, including Egypt and Morocco, with more than 90,000 women supported to date. “We firmly believe that giving women an equal opportunity in business is not just about gender equality but is an economic priority,” Taylor told the Forum, revealing that Egypt is now home to the highest share of women-led SMEs in the MEA region. However, more than a half – 52 percent – meet their financing needs from private sources, providing a “huge opportunity” for investment. Keeping female entrepreneurs in Egypt and the wider MEA region updated with new technological skills could be achieved through better training and basic advisory services. Taylor said it is important that women entrepreneurs can thrive post-pandemic through programs like WiB and have access to fiscal support packages designed specifically for women-owned MSMEs. Dr. Heike Harmgart, Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region at EBRD, described supporting women-owned businesses as a “macro-critical issue”. She stressed the need for a comprehensive global plan to be put in place to help female entrepreneurs – many of whom have been adversely affected in the wake of COVID-19 – get access to financing, knowledge and a network. Dr. Maya Morsy, President of Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW), spoke of the paramount benefits harnessed through women’s economic empowerment, which boosts the overall performance of the economy and accelerates growth steps. In commending the Egypt- ICF’s initiative, Morsy stressed that "the Egyptian government is very keen to support women entrepreneurs through new initiatives that develop women’s capabilities to realize distinguished positions in Egyptian society.” Ibrahim Laafia, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Egypt, also highlighted the potential setbacks of non inclusive economies, elaborating that “No economy can grow to its fullest potential without the participation of women.” The Forum took place in the presence of H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation; in addition to a high-level participation of government representatives from African Ministers and policy makers; Presidents of international financial institutions; bilateral and multilateral development partners’ representatives; think tanks; the private sector; and international and regional research centers.