In an Awards ceremony held on 12 February organized by Sanabel and Citibank Egypt, in conjunction with the Citigroup Foundation, the efforts of leading microentrepreneurs were recongized. A total of 19 awards were presented to microentrepreneurs who have excelled in their projects in the Manufacturing, Services, and Small Trade sectors.

Additionally, Special Category awards were presented for Innovation, the Best Woman Microentrepreneur, and for the microenterprise that has graduated to becoming a small business. 10 prizes were also awarded to microfinance loan officers, who have excelled at their work.

The Awards ceremony was attended by the honorable Mr. Hani Seif El Nasr, Secretary General of the Social Fund for Development, and esteemed member of the Advisory Council for the Awards, who distributed the Awards to the winning microentrepreneurs and loan officers. Speaking at the event were Dr. Hala El Said, Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute, Mrs. Ghada Waly, Resident Representative at the United Nations Development Program, Mr. Omar El Sayeh, Head of FI, Public Sector & Government Relations for Citibank in Egypt, and Mr. Kais Aliriani, Executive Director for Sanabel. Mr. Omar El Sayeh, Director, Public Sector, Financial Institutions and Government Relations with Citibank in Egypt, speaking at the ceremony said “in recognition of the role of microfinance in poverty alleviation and the support of the Citigroup Foundation, today we are celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit and efforts as well as the creativity of a diverse group of men and women.”“We are very pleased at Sanabel to see the enthusiasm this Award is bringing to the field. They are these microentrepreneurs who make the difference and who bring us together today” commented Mr. Kais Aliriani, Sanabel Executive Director.Under the 2006 Citigroup & Sanabel Microentrepreneurship Awards different microfinance institutions and banks who offer microfinance submitted nominations on behalf of their best microentrepreneurs, who have proven to be successful and consistent in their repayment for the different Award categories, and loan officers. 311 applications were submitted, among those, 19 projects were selected to receive the “Best Microentrepreneurial project Award”. 10 loan officers also received the “Best Loan Officer Award”. The value of the prizes, according to the prize category, ranges from $400 to $2,000.