Middle East Glass, IFC sign USD 100 mn financing agreement: The Middle East Glass Manufacturing Company (MEG) yesterday signed a USD 100 mn financing agreement with the International Finance Corporation. The financing package will support the company’s capex plans, allowing it to increase production, create jobs, and grow exports, the two parties said. The financing is part of the IFC’s drive to back Egypt’s manufacturing sector: The corporation extended USD 1.2 bn to Egyptian businesses in FY2017-18, with up to 30% of that having been earmarked for the manufacturing sector.

The IFC is looking to finance 6-8 other Egyptian businesses before the end of the current fiscal year, Tomasz Telma (pictured, above), the organization’s global director for manufacturing, agribusiness and services, told Enterprise on the sidelines of the signing ceremony yesterday. The companies are in the infrastructure, manufacturing and financial sectors, among others, he said.

The IFC waxed lyrical on the Egyptian economy: “The government has done a lot and we at IFC continue to be optimistic about Egypt,” Walid Labadi, IFC’s regional manager for Egypt, Yemen and Libya, told us. “The economy continues to grow and we have a consistent stream of customers who are really interested in Egypt, even more than they had shown last year.”

But more regulatory reform is needed: “The government should do more to ease red tape and bureaucracy and better encourage private sector participation in the economy,” Labadi said.