This review was undertaken by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui (Director), as a part of the activity on “Tailored support to countries for SME policy making and implementation”, under the Programme of Work and Budget of the OECD Committee on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (CSMEE).
The review was prepared as part of Activity 1.4 of the OECD-Egypt Country Programme, which is coordinated by the OECD Global Relations and Coordination Directorate’s Middle East and Africa (MEA) Division led by Carlos Conde. Charlotte Goemans of GRC/MEA supported the project as coordinator of the overall OECD-Egypt Country Programme.
The review study was directed by Jonathan Potter (Head of the Entrepreneurship Policy and Analysis Unit, CFE), and coordinated by Pablo Shah (Policy Analyst, CFE). The report was drafted by a team of Pablo Shah, Madison Lucas, Marija Kuzmanovic, Helen Shymanski, David Halabisky, and Roberto Crotti, all of OECD/CFE, Lois Stevenson, external expert, Canada, and Andrew Pike, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Hans Koger and Monserrat Magaña Ocaña (OECD/CFE) provided research and written contributions to the fintech chapter. Lucia Cusmano, Acting Head of the SME and Entrepreneurship Division, CFE, and Marco Bianchini (OECD/CFE) provided comments.
A steering group of CSMEE delegates provided important inputs and guidance, namely Timotheos Rekkas, Ministry for Development, Greece; Murat Şükrü Soykan, KOSGEB Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organisation, Türkiye; Salvatore Zecchini, Chair of the OECD Informal Steering Group on SME and Entrepreneurship Finance, Italy; and Karel Lember, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Estonia. The report was discussed at a peer review session of the CSMEE in November 2024 and declassified by the CSMEE by written procedure.
As the OECD’s counterparts in Egypt for the review study, Marwa Ahmed Abdel Tawab Ahmed, Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Agency (MSMEDA), Egypt and Maged Bahaa, Ministry of Planning, Egypt, facilitated completion of the fact-finding questionnaire, organisation of the stakeholder interviews and comments on the report from stakeholders in Egypt.
The report benefitted from discussions, interviews and information provided by a large range of ministries, agencies, SME support organisations, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in Egypt.