North Africa Enterprise Development (NAED) has agreed to help Egyptian producer of organic agricultural products, SEKEM strengthen its supply chain linkages with its farm suppliers, a vast majority of which are small to medium size enterprises (SMEs).
NAED is a technical assistance facility managed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Under the agreement, NAED will assist SEKEM in implementing a supply chain management solution that would enhance SEKEM's communication and collaboration with over 200 SME farm suppliers. The solution is expected to result in an improvement in efficiency throughout SEKEM's supply chain, with an increase in production forecast accuracy and in realized sales revenue for the SME farmers.
"Due to this cooperation, the first Arabized agriculture ERP system will be implemented in Egypt. Enterprise Resource Planning is a software system that helps companies better manage relationships with their suppliers. Without NAED's support, this project would not have been possible at this time," said SEKEM's managing director, Helmy Abouleish.
NAED's support to SEKEM will complement IFC's existing financial support. In January 2003, IFC committed a five million dollar loan to SEKEM to expand its production of organically produced pharmaceutical products, fruits, vegetables, and textiles.
Launched in April, NAED is a regional technical assistance program operating in Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt, co-funded by IFC and donor countries, including Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland. The focus of the facility in Egypt includes improving SME access to finance; supporting intermediary organizations; linkages between SMEs and large firms; and improving the business enabling environment for SMEs. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
