Enabling the Poor in Egypt: Integrating the Informal Economy into Mainstream Activity

The roundtable drew on previous studies conducted by ECES in this respect, which concluded that the poor in Egypt stand to benefit considerably if they opt to convert their dead capital (unregistered assets) into viable economic assets that could serve as collateral to increase their access to credit and their integration in economic activity. The presentation also highlighted the main findings of ECES research regarding informality, both businesses and real estate, the size of which is estimated at 40 percent of economic activity. The discussions also addressed the main barriers that stand in the way of formalization in Egypt as well as the legislations needed to encourage the poor to formalize and utilize their idle capital.