Planning Minister receives "Decent Life" implementation report for financial inclusion in Assiut governorate

Minister of Planning and Economic Development Dr. Hala El-Said received recently a report on the ministry’s delegation’s visit to Assiut Governorate and the villages of Sahel Selim Center. 

The visit comes as the first step to implement the financial inclusion strategy within the framework of the national project for the development of the Egyptian countryside “Decent Life”.
Dr. Hala El-Said praised the effort and the inspection tours made by the delegation for the completed and ongoing projects in the villages of the Sahel Selim Center, and the consultative sessions held with the residents of the villages of the centre to find out the needs regarding the financial infrastructure.

The report included the delegation’s visit to 10 village: El Shamiya, Sheikh Shehata, Al-Afadra, Tasa, Al-Khawalid, Al-Nazla Al-Mostagda, Bweit, Al-Tanaga Al-Sharqiya, Al-Ruwaijat, Deir Tasa. 

The delegation held consultative sessions in each village separately, in which more than 450 people participated, along with representatives from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)and a group of banks. 


The sessions focused on spreading awareness regarding financial inclusion, savings and lending, small and microloan programs, as well as the importance of utilising the comparative advantages of each village concerning micro-enterprises.


The delegation listened to the views of the people regarding the problems they face in dealing with banks, especially in financing small and micro-projects, the lack of automated teller machines (ATMs), and the long distances between the villages and the banking services.


The report also referred to the inspection tours of the completed and ongoing projects in the villages of the Sahel Salim Center, to follow up on the completion rates and ensure the quality of implementation. 


The delegation visited 10 completed and ongoing ones, which included a project to replace and renew drinking water networks and decent housing in the village of Al-Afadra, and a family medical centre in the village of Tasa.


It also includes sewage stations in the villages of Sheikh Shehata and Al-Afadra, with a completion rate of 20%. Meanwhile, conventional gravity sewers and rising mains are 60% complete, while the firefighting unit in the village of Al-Tanaga Al-Sharqiya, which serves 4 villages is 80% complete.


The Al-Tanaga School for Secondary Education (9 classrooms), with a completion rate of 35%, and a sewage project in the same village, as well as conventional gravity sewers and rising mains. 


The report also indicated that the delegation inspected the Bakhoum village sewage project, with a completion rate of 90% for the lifting station, and 100% for the conventional gravity sewers and rising mains.


It also indicated that the Habaysha treatment plant project is 100% completed, with a capacity of (15/45) thousand m3 / day, which serves all the villages of the Salim Sahel Center. 



Jamil Helmy, Assistant Minister of Planning for the Follow-up Affairs of the Sustainable Development Plan, and General Supervisor of the “Decent Life” initiative, indicated that 71 development projects are being implemented in 7 villages (Sheikh Shehata, Al-Afadra, Tasa, Al-Khawalid, Al-Nazla Al-Gadda, Al-Ruwaijat, Deir Tasa). 


These include the establishment of Fawzi Abdel Rahim Ali Suleiman School (22 classrooms), a sewage station and sewage lines in the village of Tasa, the expansion of the Al-Khawalid school (8 classrooms), the construction of a lifting station, conventional gravity sewers and rising mains in the village of Al-Ruwaijat. 


Moreover, they include the construction of a lifting station in the village of Deir Tasa, and paving of roads with a length of 7 km, and extending and strengthening drinking water networks with a length of 10 km, as part of the first phase of the initiative.
It is noteworthy that the ministry’s delegation, which included Mr. Ahmed El-Shimy and Mr. Mohamed Sherif El-Hely, coordinator of the “Decent Life” initiative at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, participated in a two-day field visit to the city and villages of the Sahel Salim Center in Assiut Governorate.
The delegation included representatives of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)and 8 banks: The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, Alexandria Bank, Qatar National Bank (QNB), Commercial International Bank (CIB), The United Bank, and Export Development Bank Of Egypt.
It also included representatives from the Decent Life Foundation and the National Council for Women (NCW), to start implementing the financial inclusion strategy in the Decent Life initiative.