The application of the First Microfinance Foundation Egypt has been accepted by Sanabel’s board of directors. Accordingly, the network has a total of nineteen MFIs from Egypt.

In 2005, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) established the First Microfinance Foundation Egypt (FMF-E) to alleviate poverty and generate economic growth. As a locally-managed lending institution, the FMF-E aims to foster entrepreneurial activity, especially for women in under-privileged neighborhoods. FMF-E’s operations are governed by principles of long-term sustainability and financial discipline. The Foundation extends credit mainly for income-generating loans to micro- and small-enterprises, but also provides social loans for housing rehabilitation, education, health care, and family emergencies or ceremonies. The FMF-E program started, in 2000, as credit component of the Darb Al-Ahmar Community Development Project and was managed by Aga Khan Trust for Culture as an extension of the Al Azhar Park.

The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) is member of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) which is a group of development agencies, institutions and programs established by His Highness the Aga Khan. The common goal of these agencies is to combat problems of social and economic development and to help the poor achieve a level of self-reliance sufficient to plan their own livelihoods. AKDN has been engaged in Egypt since the early 1990s; most notably in the creation of the 30-hectare (74-acre) Al-Azhar Park, undertaken in the historic district of Cairo.

Today, the First Microfinance Foundation has disbursed over 32,000 loans valuing over $11.9 million USD. Currently, FMF-E works in three neighborhoods in Cairo surrounding the Al-Azhar Park and five cities in the Aswan Governorate with a total outstanding portfolio of over $3.3 million USD and 14,000 outstanding loans.

For more information, please see www.akdn.org/microfinance.