Microfinance

Financing the small enterprises

The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) organizes many programs to improve the economic conditions of needy families. Financing small enterprises is one of the significant ERC programs; it started in 2005. Under this program, 110 enterprises have been financed to encourage the women who suffer from poverty and difficult social and economic conditions to establish profitable projects could improve their living condition.

The ERC conducts, at the beginning, a social research on the family's financial situation; then it approves funding the woman or girl's project in micro loan, whose value is worth 1,000 EGP and repaid over a year, with taking the guarantees ofrepaying the loan.

The ERCis keen to regularly follow up the women and girls to help them in completing their projects; this matter contributed in the success of the program as the loan repayment rate hit 100 percent. The ERC provides the women and the girls more microloans as long as they successfully achieved the projects and repaid the previous loans.