Tasaheel acquires Egypt’s first microleasing license: Micro lender Tasaheel was today granted the first license for microfinance leasing in the Egyptian market by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), a source at the regulator told Enterprise today. This will make the company — which also received the country’s first SME microfinancing license in July — the first in Egypt able to offer leasing products specifically targeted at borrowers who are unable to access conventional facilities offered by non-bank lenders.

The license will pave the way for the launch of Egypt’s first microfinance leasing product, and will help micro-projects access resources for new activities and expansion, the FRA said in a statement (pdf) yesterday, without publicly naming the newly-licensed company.

This latest license was issued following a series of reforms to the laws governing microfinance, FRA chief Mohamed Omran said in the statement. They include a 2018 amendment allowing licensed lenders to engage in microfinance leasing, and a bill ratified last year bringing SMEs under the 2014 Microfinance Act and raising the maximum value of a micro-loan to a single company or project to EGP 200k from EGP 100k.

Who could be next? Microfinance firm Tamweely wants to provide microleasing products to SMEs from the start of next year, and has applied to the FRA for a license. Meanwhile, EFG Hermes-owned microfinance player Tanmeyah could file for an FRA-regulated SME microfinancing license before the year’s end.