FIF - Reefy Microfinance - Youth in Business

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

Provision of a senior unsecured loan in local currency of up to EGP 200 million (ca. EUR 6.0 million equivalent) in favour of Reefy Microfinance Enterprise Services ("Reefy"). The loan is under the Egypt Youth in Business ("YiB") programme to on-lend to private youth-led and/or owned MSMEs in Egypt, particularly in remote regions. The loan will be accompanied by a comprehensive package of technical cooperation and investment incentives, funded by the European Union and EBRD Shareholder Special Fund, aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Reefy and the sub-borrowers while alleviating the impact of macroeconomic turbulences and inflationary pressures on end-beneficiaries.

Project ID 54606

Status Repaying

Location

Egypt

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Hoda Eleimy, MD & CEO's Office Manager
hoda.eleimy@reefy.net
+202 38500104
https://reefy.net/
Reefy Micro Finance Enterprise Services | Arkan Plaza, Building F4, Floor 6 | El Sehikh Zayed, Giza | Egypt

Project ID 54606

Status Repaying

Location

Egypt

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

13 Jun 2023

Disclosure date

15 Jun 2023

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

FIF - Reefy Microfinance - Youth in Business (Arabic) (PDF, 0.94MB)

Project description

Project objectives

The loan aims at opening up economic opportunities for young people and promoting their access to finance by supporting the development of youth-led and/or owned enterprises and the non-bank financial services industry in Egypt.

Transition impact

ETI Score:67

ject falls under the Egypt YiB programme and, as such, is expected to contribute to the Inclusive and Competitive transition impact qualities.

Under the Inclusive quality, the project will help Reefy adopt new lending practices and business models targeted at young people, helping the microfinance institution expand its lending in favour of this underserved segment. Complementary technical cooperation, implemented through EBRD's Advice for Small Businesses programme, will strengthen the entrepreneurial and managerial capacities of sub-borrowers.

Under the Competitive quality, the project will contribute to the expansion of Reefy's portfolio of loans to youth-led and/or owned MSMEs by reaching new clients, while maintaining a minimum regional share and sound asset quality.

Client information

REEFY MICROFINANCE ENTERPRISE SERVICES SAE

Founded in 2007, Reefy Microfinance Enterprise Services ("Reefy") is Egypt's first licensed microfinance institution and one of the leading players in the Egyptian market. Operating through a wide and well-diversified network of 154 branches, Reefy focuses on untapped and low-income individuals located in non-urban areas. As of end-of-May 2023, Reefy's outstanding portfolio stood at EGP 2.9 billion (ca. USD 93.5 million).

EBRD Finance Summary

EGP 200,001,000.00

Total project cost

EGP 200,001,000.00

Additionality

The loan offers a combination of (i) longer-term financing than what is available in the market, (ii) technical expertise dedicated to capacity building and (iii) gender-mainstreaming activities into a comprehensive package that promotes financing for private youth-led and/or owned MSMEs in Egypt.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (2019). Reefy is an existing client of the Bank and has been satisfactorily reporting and complying with EBRD's standards thus far. Reefy is required to continue to comply with EBRD's Performance Requirements (PRs) 2, 4, and 9. Reefy's E&S performance will be monitored through the review of annual reports. There is no GET component associated with this Project.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

The loan will be accompanied by: (i) a technical cooperation ("TC") programme to provide technical support to Reefy through staff training, internal capacity-building and skill development to more accurately understand and serve the financial needs of youth-led and/or owned MSMEs, funded by the European Union ("EU") and EBRD Shareholder Special Fund ("SSF"), (ii) incentive grants aimed at alleviating the impact of macroeconomic turbulences and inflationary pressures on end-beneficiaries, funded by the EU, and (iii) capacity-building and advisory services delivered directly to youth-led and/or owned MSMEs to support their know-how and entrepreneurial skills development, funded by the EU and EBRD SSF.

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

15 Jun 2023

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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FIF - Reefy Microfinance - Youth in Business

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)