EBRD greenlights NBE loan: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide the National Bank of Egypt with USD 119.5 mn for on-lending to local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the lender said in a statement. The funds will target businesses with a “regional focus that are owned or led by women or young people.”

A two-parter: This funding will be disbursed under an A/B loan structure — a financing arrangement used to provide large loans to borrowers in EMs, the first part of the loan is financed by a development finance institution, while the second is sold to other lenders. While A loan came from the EBRD, B loan has been mobilized by Dutch-based and SDG-focused asset manager ILX Fund.

More to come: The funding is part of a potentially larger financing program that could be delivered over several stages.

Driving the loan: The loan will help “mobilize the private-sector funding necessary for economic development, while diversifying NBE’s funding base and supporting its financial inclusion agenda,” the statement said.

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