Egypt: FRA reveals size of non-banking financing in July 2024
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) reported a notable increase in non-banking financing across various sectors in July 2024. According to the latest figures, the number of consumers benefiting from consumer finance rose to 2.127 million in July 2024, up from 1.986 million in July 2023.
The total volume of outstanding loans for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) surged to EGP 66.8 billion, marking a 44.76% increase from the EGP 46.143 billion recorded in July 2023. Specifically, loans for micro-enterprises grew to EGP 57.29 billion, an increase of EGP 14.69 billion compared to the previous year, despite a slight drop in the number of beneficiaries, which decreased to 3.796 million from 3.841 million in July 2023. Meanwhile, loans for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) jumped to EGP 9.5 billion, up from EGP 3.5 billion in 2023, with the number of beneficiaries rising to 8.4 thousand, compared to 3,900 in the previous year.
Consumer finance also experienced significant growth, with loans provided by consumer finance companies reaching EGP 29.339 billion in July 2024, a 20.2% increase from the EGP 24.403 billion in July 2023. The leading categories in consumer finance included car and vehicle purchases, which accounted for 28.88% of the total, followed by electrical appliances and electronics at 28.70%, home appliances at 10.66%, purchases from stores and commercial chains at 6.64%, and clothing, footwear, and accessories at 5.35%.
Additionally, the FRA highlighted a strong performance in Egypt’s factoring market. The market grew by 43.5% year-on-year, with the total factoring volume rising to EGP 24.102 billion in July 2024, up from EGP 16.79 billion in the previous year. The number of customers utilizing factoring services increased by 8.6%, reaching 611 customers, compared to 564 in July 2023. The volume of recourse factored papers rose to EGP 21.43 billion, while non-recourse factored papers increased to EGP 12.7 billion, compared to EGP 15.1 billion and EGP 9.1 billion, respectively, in July 2023.
