Proparco, with nearly two decades of activity in Egypt, is gearing up for a record year in the country. We sat down with CEO Françoise Lombard (LinkedIn) during her mission to Egypt last week to talk about renewed investor confidence, how Egypt’s new national narrative is shaping Proparco’s strategy, and the institution’s expanding focus on green infrastructure, human capital, and entrepreneurship. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

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EnterpriseAM: How would you describe Proparco’s presence in Egypt today?

Françoise Lombard: As you know, we are a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD) dedicated to supporting and promoting the private sector. Proparco has been active in Egypt since 2007, and we have committed close to EUR 500 mn to support the private sector in many ways.

We now want to increase our activity in Egypt for several reasons, and that is why we conducted this mission. We actually started earlier this year, and it should be a record year. So far, we have signed EUR 125 mn across sectors.

There is restored investor confidence, with a sense that this is a good moment to invest and support the positive momentum in Egypt.

EnterpriseAM: You have been in Egypt for a few days meeting stakeholders. How do you see Egypt’s National Narrative for Economic Development shaping your view of risk and opportunity?

FL: In addition to improvements in key macro indicators like inflation and currency stability, this new narrative and the structural reforms behind it are inspiring. They contribute to building investor confidence, and we see very concrete actions from the Egyptian authorities.

Our strategy in Egypt will be aligned with Egypt Vision 2030 and embedded in this narrative, which supports climate-resilient, export-driven, innovation-driven growth and private sector leadership. We remain committed to continuing and increasing our action in Egypt, supported by partners such as the European Commission, the Green Climate Fund, and other development finance institutions.

EnterpriseAM: What are your priorities in Egypt today?

FL: We want to focus on three priorities. The first is providing long-term financing for infrastructure and energy that supports the green transition. By infrastructure, I mean renewable energy, logistics, and ports, as well as booming digital infrastructure and water and sanitation projects. We financed the Damietta port, for example.

The second priority is supporting human capital through the social sectors, mainly healthcare, where we have been active, and education. We will continue to focus on this mainly through private equity.

The third priority is entrepreneurship. We want to support export-driven and innovation-driven companies.

EnterpriseAM: Are you targeting startups, SMEs, or larger companies? And is your approach mainly through private equity, or also through local banks?

FL: Both channels are important. Working with local banks gives us more granularity and helps us reach micro and small enterprises that cannot access direct financing. We have developed tools such as risk-sharing mechanisms with banks to support their risk appetite in financing underserved segments of the economy. This includes women entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, and agribusiness entrepreneurs.

We also support entrepreneurship through private equity, either directly or through funds. Egypt has strong private equity funds. We have supported SPE Capital, RMBV, Lorax Capital Partners, Adenia, AfricInvest, and Amethis, etc, and will continue to do so. We also invest directly, alongside these funds. We have also supported Sawari Ventures and Disruptech on the VC side.

This year, we invested directly in Delta Specialties, an export-driven company producing additives and coatings for paints. We also invested in Masria Digital Payments, a payment processor and credit card manufacturer.

EnterpriseAM: You recently launched the Impact+ facility. How can Egyptian and African SMEs benefit from it? Is there a percentage allocated to Egypt?

FL: Impact+ benefits from the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus guarantee from the European Commission. It is new, but in many ways a continuation of Proparco’s long experience with risk-sharing mechanisms.

Its purpose is to share risks with banks or microfinance institutions to channel more financing to underserved segments. The share of risk we take depends on the segment. The more underserved it is, the more risk we are willing to take.

It involves detailed reporting from the financial institution. This approach has proven effective, and we will deploy it across Africa. There is no country allocation, but our initial contacts with Egyptian banks show strong interest.

EnterpriseAM: What is in the pipeline for Proparco in Egypt and Africa in 2026?

FL: The pipeline reflects our priorities. We have projects in healthcare and education that we hope will materialize quickly. We also have a strong pipeline in energy and logistics, which will be major focus areas next year.

We also have a VC pipeline supporting Egyptian startups, and we are deploying the Impact+ program. We are confident about bringing forward interesting entrepreneurship projects with financial institutions.

EnterpriseAM: Can we expect you to take part in the privatization program?

FL: We are closely monitoring developments in privatization, and it could create interesting opportunities. But it is too early to say what could be done, as the process takes time.

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