Promotion of Access to Financial Services for Small and Medium Enterprises – National Financial Inclusion Survey and Strategy


Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute significantly to the creation of new jobs in Egypt. Together with micro enterprises, they employ approximately 75% of the workforce, but only account for 25% of GDP. The difficult and unreliable access to finance for MSMEs constitutes one of many obstacles for their growth. According to the EBRD loans to SMEs account for only 6% of the total loan portfolio of Egyptian banks. Compared to other countries in the MENA region this is low. Additionally, the access to non-bank financial services, which are particularly relevant for the growth of MSMEs, such as leasing, factoring, insurance or equity, is negligible. The core problem thus is the inadequate supply of demand-based financial services for MSMEs. Therefore National Financial Inclusion Survey and Strategy will be conducted.

The market diagnostic study for households and MSMEs, both on the supply and the demand side, in order to establish a baseline for financial inclusion in Egypt as well as establishing a baseline for gender by determining levels of financial demand, access, usage and quality of formal and informal financial services.


Services provided
National financial inclusion survey:

  • Household demand survey amongst Egyptian adults (18+),  provides nationally representative findings across socio-economic, socio-demographic (including women and youth) and geographic segments concerning:
  1. Household socio-economic and demographic conditions, communal facilities
  2. Money management concerning household income and expenditure, financial behaviour, discipline and decision-making
  3. Levels, drivers and barriers (price, proximity, paperwork and identification etc.) of demand for, access to, usage and quality of formal and informal financial products and services across the different financial service providers and products
  4. Market conduct / client protection
  5. Financial awareness, literacy, capability and attitudes, including for financial technology and digital financial ser-vices
  6. Issues with respect to remote areas and gender gap
  • Demand side survey for MSMEs, including  demand, access, usage and quality of both formal and informal financial services, covering demographics, performance, financing, credit and borrowing, non-borrowing businesses and informal sector.
  • Supply side study at the level of the financial infrastructure and the providers to map levels of financial access and usage as well as to analyse barriers thereto across the different product categories for both households and MSMEs.
  • Consolidated analytic report which will provide data findings from the demand and supply side assessments, as well as findings from existing, relevant reference studies, and provide recommendations to policymakers and financial service providers on how to increase financial inclusion in general and to half the gender gap by 2021 with a roadmap for 3 years with clear targets and KPIs.

Advisory services to Central bank of Egypt on National Financial Inclusion Framework development:

  • Governance and coordination structure and processes for National Financial Inclusion Framework
  • Draft National Financial Inclusion Framework