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Egypt’s Hafiz platform to help private sector get innovative financing
The Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation launched Hafiz platform for financial and technical support for the private sector with an aim of enhancing the competitiveness of companies of all types by improving their ability to access international markets, obtain innovative financing, and make the most of partnerships, by bridging the information gap, allowing the private sector to access a complete list of advisory services, technical support and financing provided by development partners.
This falls within the framework of the state’s efforts to benefit from the best innovative financing alternatives available from international financial institutions and development partners to empower the private sector.
The platform connects development partners, agencies, the government, and the local business community, to enhance communication and linking between various private sector companies, whether large companies, small, medium and micro companies, emerging companies, Investment funds or local financial institutions, in order to benefit from development financing, technical support and consultations.
This came during the conference organized by the Ministry of International Cooperation, Sunday, in the New Administrative Capital, with the participation of heads and representatives of multilateral and bilateral development partners.
The platform aims to help achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth, and enhance the state’s vision aimed at increasing the private sector’s contribution to economic activity to 65% within 3 years.
The platform reduces the information gap, overcomes the challenges of the language barrier that prevents companies from obtaining many services from development partners, and makes information available about the most appropriate financial and non-financial solutions available.
Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania Mashat, explained that the launch of the Hafiz platform comes in implementation of the recommendations of the Egypt Economic Conference 2022, which was organized by the Egyptian government.
She explained that over the course of about a year, the Ministry of International Cooperation held many workshops and consultations with international development partners and the private sector, and presented a questionnaire to international development partners to inventory their financing and non-financing services to the private sector, in addition to holding consultative meetings with representatives of the private sector to identify their needs from development partners, and the most prominent challenges that prevent them from fully benefiting from international partnerships and conducted a comprehensive analysis of strategies with development partners to review the terms and axes of private sector empowerment, and study reports and diagnostic studies, until this platform was reached to be the link between private sector companies in Egypt and development partners.
Mashat explained that multilateral and bilateral development partners have provided financing to the private sector in the form of development financing, contributions and investments, worth $10.3 billion during the period from 2020 to 2023, in addition to advisory services and technical support, and that providing this platform would work to Opening new channels between the private sector and development partners and enhancing benefiting from the comparative advantage of each development partner.
Mashat stressed that this platform allows integration between the efforts of development partners to empower the private sector, in light of the pivotal role it plays in Egypt in promoting comprehensive and sustainable growth, as there are about 3.4 million private sector establishments in Egypt, whether large, small and medium companies, or emerging companies, as well as Investment funds, and the Egyptian market, is joined by about 800,000 graduates every year, which reinforces the importance of efforts made to increase the ability of the private sector to receive more workers through programs that stimulate comprehensive growth and support the efficiency of the labor market.
The Hafiz platform is based on successful experiences and models of cooperation between the private sector and development partners, and benefits from financial and non-financial services, including direct investment, financing, grants, insurance, risk management and guarantees, commercial financing, technical assistance, and capacity building and advisory support, in addition to bids and opportunities to partner with or contract with companies.
The annual report of the Ministry of International Cooperation for 2023, issued under the title “International Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Platforms for Policy and Practice,” revealed that the total development financing for the private sector from multilateral and bilateral development partners amounted to $10.3 billion during the period from 2020 to 2023.
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