Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Ministry of Local Development aims to pump EGP 25 billion into the establishment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the coming five years as part of the National Programme for Community, Human, and Local Development (Mashroak).

The planned SMEs are expected to create about 1 million jobs, the Minister of Local Development, Mahmoud Shaarawy, said in a statement on Sunday.

In March, Mashroak provided loans worth about EGP 400 million to 2,000 SMEs, which led to the creation of around 10,000 jobs in all governorates in Egypt, he noted.

So far, Mashroak has financed 167,779 SMEs with EGP 18.1 billion, creating about 1.2 million jobs.

El-Minya topped the country’s governorates in the number of SMEs financed by Mashroak with 19,346 SMEs financed by more than EGP 2 billion, followed by Sohag with 17,103 SMEs financed with EGP 1.9 billion, and Beheira with 16,293 SMEs financed with EGP 1.3 billion.