Under the patronage of the Ambassador of Spain and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) held on Monday an award ceremony for the 40 winners of the “Be Creative Entrepreneur” initiative. The 40 winners were selected among 100 finalists and will be provided with incubation, business development services, and networking with finance partners.
The ceremony was attended by the Head of the Spanish Cooperation in Egypt, Eva Suárez Leonardo, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Youth and the Spanish Cooperation.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Alvaro Iranzo Gutiérrez congratulated the 40 finalists and hailed their creativity, passion, and determination, which demonstrates the thriving entrepreneurial spirit among Egyptian youth. He added that inclusive economic development and employability are a priority for Spanish Cooperation in Egypt and that there is a growing interest in green economy.
The Ambassador also praised the Ministry of Youth and Sport for their efforts in achieving gender equality as there were as many women among the winners as men.
Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhy said: ”We are pleased to celebrate together today the completion of the first phase of the Be a Creative Entrepreneur initiative with our youth, who have inspiring industrial ideas that deserve support and guidance to launch startups that will contribute to supporting the Egyptian national economy, and the Ministry is looking forward to more economic cooperation with Spain.”.
The project was presented by Undersecretary Manal Gamal, who highlighted that the ‘Be Creative Entrepreneur’ initiative developed and provided inclusive entrepreneurship training packages for around 2000 undergraduates and graduates developing business ideas that efficiently match Egypt’s economic priorities, with a focus on green and industrial growth.
The training packages were comprehensive and included the required skills needed for entrepreneurs, such as selecting partners, administrative leadership, branding and marketing, designing business models, finance management as well as presentation skills. The projects were selected by a judging panel that included a group of specialists from the partner agencies of the NilePreneurs initiative.
Osama Hassan, winner of this edition of Be Creative Entrepreneur, expressed his gratitude for the Spanish Cooperation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports in launching this initiative, which has helped to shift his mindset and equipped him with crucial entrepreneurial skills, such as how to launch his own mobile application to provide services for his community in Aswan. He added that the initiative was also tech-focused, which aligns with the rapidly evolving digital economy today.
