SANAD to help Egyptian farmers obtain financing through new web-based credit scoring solution

2020-06-02

SANAD to help Egyptian farmers obtain financing through new web-based credit scoring solution

Luxembourg and Cairo, June 2, 2020 – The SANAD Technical Assistance Facility (SANAD TAF) has launched a project with the Egyptian Credit Bureau, known commercially as I-SCORE, to open up much-needed financing to farmers and other agricultural micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The partners are developing a web-based credit assessment and scoring tool tailored to the Egyptian agricultural sector, which will allow various types of financial intermediaries, including banks, leasing companies, and microfinance providers to expand financing to an important but otherwise underbanked segment of the Egyptian economy.

I-SCORE currently assigns credit ratings to retail and MSME borrowers. The cooperation with SANAD will enable it to build capacity to additionally provide ratings for agricultural companies and farmers, reinforcing this sector’s ability to obtain financing from local financial institutions: Historically, only 1% to 2% of total credit provided in Egypt has been extended to agricultural MSMEs. The SANAD TAF project aims to enable I-SCORE to set up and roll out an agricultural credit evaluation and risk assessment system, or “ACERS”, which will enable financial service providers to increase the quantity of lending to the country’s farmers and agricultural enterprises. 

Ines Ebrecht, Chairperson of the SANAD Technical Assistance Facility, said: “The potential of ACERS to give financial intermediaries in Egypt the tools needed to increase their agricultural portfolio represents an important step in facilitating greater production and economic growth. The agricultural sector is responsible for around an eighth of Egypt’s GDP. This project will have a direct impact, increasing the financial inclusion of this very important sector of the Egyptian economy.”  

Mohamed Kafafi, Chairman and Managing Director of I-Score, said: “Providing banks with the necessary information to assist them in growing their portfolios and availing access to credit to different sectors such as the agricultural sector is a major cornerstone in the development of MSMEs and increasing financial inclusion. SANAD’s assistance with the agricultural credit evaluation and risk assessment system “ACERS” is the newest of I-Score’s various tools available to banks and various MFIs in Egypt. ACERS is foreseen to be a crucial tool to increase the flow of credit to the agricultural sector, thus increasing its share in the GDP and increasing the livelihood of the sector for MSMEs and related businesses alike.” 

About SANAD 

The SANAD Fund for MSME finances micro, small, and medium enterprises and low-income households in the Middle East and North Africa via qualified local lenders. SANAD thereby fosters economic development and job creation – including youth employment – agriculture, affordable housing, and innovations in finance and financial technologies. SANAD strives to meet these goals by providing debt and equity financing to its local partners. 

The SANAD Technical Assistance Facility (SANAD TAF) multiplies the fund’s impact and outreach through capacity-building with partner institutions, developing financial infrastructures according to the principles of responsible finance and conducting much required research and development. The SANAD Entrepreneurship Academy, an initiative of the SANAD TAF, encompasses a range of programs to support business owners throughout SANAD’s target region. By working together with local organizations that drive incubation and acceleration projects, the Entrepreneurship Academy provides entrepreneurs with guidance, resources, mentoring, networking opportunities, the chance to receive financial backing, and other means necessary to turn good ideas into successful enterprises.

An impact investment fund advised by Finance in Motion, SANAD’s investors include the KfW Development Bank, which initiated the fund; the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); the European Union; Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO); OeEB, the Development Bank of Austria; Germany’s GLS Bank and GLS Treuhand; the Dutch development bank FMO; and Calvert Impact Capital. 

For more information on the SANAD Fund for MSME, please visit: www.sanad.lu
For more information on Finance in Motion, please visit: www.finance-in-motion.com  

About I-SCORE

The Egyptian Credit Bureau was established in 2005 according to Company Law number 159 for 1981 and Capital Market Law number 95 for 1992 upon the approval of Capital Market Authority dated 3 August 2005 and the preliminary approval from The Central Bank of Egypt dated 30 August 2005. The Egyptian Credit Bureau was inaugurated with a total of twenty-five (25) banks and the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency “MSMEDA” (previously the Social Fund for Development) as shareholders under the commercial name of “Estealam”. The commercial name was changed to “I-Score” in 2007 and the Board of the Central Bank of Egypt awarded its approval for commercial business on 22 January 2008. 

I-Score maintains a database of credit information for credit consumers and MSMEs. Authorized users (I-Score members) are entitled to access I-Score's database to carry out creditworthiness checks on consumers and MSMEs. I-Score now holds almost 100% of credit data on credit consumers (individuals and MSMEs) from commercial banks, thus providing a clear indicator to the credit community and therefore honoring its promise of “Delivering Trust” to the Egyptian financial community.

I-Score’s strategy is under continuous development to meet the needs of the financial and banking sector, and in September 2019 developed its brand and slogan to become “Your Information Hub”.

The purpose of the company is to provide credit information services and credit information products.

The Egyptian Credit Bureau “I-Score” remains to date the only licensed Private Credit Bureau in Egypt.

For more information, please visit: www.i-score.com.eg 

Media contact – SANAD
Nikki Eggers
Senior Officer, Marketing & Communications
Phone: +49 (0)69 271 035-470 
Email: press@sanad.lu

Media contact – I-SCORE
Ghada Massoud
PR Manager
Phone: +2(02) 35310768
Email: ghada.massoud@i-score.com.eg