Amideast/Egypt and Citi Foundation have announced the launch of the Youth Entrepreneurship Program, a two-year partnership aimed at providing economic opportunities that will directly impact 40 aspiring young Egyptian entrepreneurs and further benefit as many as 600 other youth.
The program will focus on building a new generation of entrepreneurs by helping them to get their business ideas off the ground. Amideast is now accepting applications online, until January 31, 2017.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Program, which was designed and implemented by Amideast/Egypt, is open to Egyptian youth aged 18-30 who have innovative business ideas or have just started their own business. The program provides training, access to resources, coaching and mentoring, incubation and opportunities for real-life application of the newly gained skills and knowledge.
"Amideast is proud to have been selected by Citi Foundation to implement the Youth Entrepreneurship Program. Together we will not only enable 40 star entrepreneurs to start businesses, but will also empower them to impact the lives of others," said Shahinaz Ahmed, Amideast/Egypt country director. "Our entrepreneurs will learn to teach and will pay it forward by providing state-of-the-art entrepreneurship skills training to 600 additional youth, creating awareness about and planting the seeds for an entrepreneurship path."
The Youth Entrepreneurship Program is part of the Citi Foundation's Pathways to Progress global approach to prepare urban youth to thrive in today's economy. Programs that make up this approach are focused on developing economic opportunities for youth through activities such as, entrepreneurship education, engagement in the formal economy through first jobs, and the acquisition of leadership, financial, and workplace skills.
"We are proud to partner with Amideast Egypt and to invest in youth through this program to help enable economic resiliency and long term competitiveness in our country," said Nadir Shaikh, Citi country officer, Egypt. "We continue to support programs that catalyze economic growth and provide our youth with economic opportunities to thrive and promote continued progress in Egypt."
As part of the Pathways to Progress initiative, the Citi Foundation commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to study how cities around the world support young people’s ambitions and contribute to their economic prospects. The study revealed that 74% of respondents in the Middle East and Africa want to start a business and work for themselves.
