The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a programme looking to empower woman in business in Egypt.

The move comes days after the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia director, Masood Ahmed, warned Egypt’s economy would require considerable external funding in the next few years. Egypt’s economic growth was undermined by four years of political turmoil after the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against long-standing leader Hosni Mubarak. Free elections initially brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power, but following huge public protests in June 2013, the army seized power.

The EBRD teamed up with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest commercial bank, to set up a Women in Business programme, with the aim of strengthening the role of female entrepreneurs in the Egyptian economy. Females account for just 11% of entrepreneurs in Egypt, according to a recent report by the Washington DC-based think tank Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute. Details