Cairo – Mubasher: The World Bank Group (WBG) has launched a new phase of a finance programme for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), the Middle East News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The new programme is expected to create sustainable jobs and support private sector-driven development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in partnership with the Netherlands, UK, Sweden, and Switzerland, the WBG stated.

The group noted that the five-year programme is also projected to stimulate SMEs in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordon, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.

The programme is executed in collaboration between the World Bank and International Finance Corporation through a group of consultancy projects and initiatives that are focused on certain countries.