Arab Finance: I demanded Dr. Hala Barakatdirector Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation At the College of Business Administration at the American University in Cairo, young entrepreneurs are encouraged to come up with creative ideas to solve the problems facing society, and for young people to have an entrepreneurial thought that represents creating creative ideas in their fields away from routine work.
Barakat added in an exclusive interview with “Arab Finance” that financing opportunities for women entrepreneurs may be less compared to men as a result of some of the challenges they face, noting that artificial intelligence will not reduce the role of humans, but rather will make there accuracy in some work, calling for the necessity of researching ways to use it safely. And morally, and to the text of the dialogue:
First, tell us about the activity of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and when did this activity begin?
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the American University in Cairo began its activity as an initiative of the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Dr. Sherif Kamel, in 2010, and at that time the idea of entrepreneurship was still new to the Egyptian society and economy. He believed that education and universities had a role in spreading awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship, and it was named This initiative is the “Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme”, and since that date in 2010, it has begun holding events aimed at spreading awareness of entrepreneurship thought, and holding competitions among university students to come up with entrepreneurial ideas through which to solve societal or economic problems and other problems that may face society, and the program achieved within The first three years of his work achieved many accomplishments, then he established the first business accelerator three years after the start of the program at the American University in Cairo, specifically in the year 2013. On this date, the first business accelerator was established within a university in Egypt, and this accelerator began to attract startup companies working in the fields of technology and technology. Finance and health technology while providing appropriate support for this type of company. In 2015, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center was established independently and separately from the business accelerator as a research center under the umbrella of the Faculty of Business Administration at the American University in Cairo.
What did the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center do after it transformed from a program into a center?
From 2015 to 2019, the Center was able to organize events, discussion circles, and activities that contributed to spreading awareness of entrepreneurship thought. I joined as director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at the beginning of 2020, and the goal of joining the Center, appointed by Dr. Sherif Kamel, Dean of the College of Business Administration at the American University, was to Keeping pace with the change that has occurred in entrepreneurship in Egypt, and developing a new strategic vision for the center with a focus on the needs of the entrepreneurship market, whether by emerging companies or institutions that support entrepreneurship. Since that date, 2020 until now, we have been focusing on 4 main axes, including the economic empowerment of women. In general, with a focus on women entrepreneurs in particular, and the second axis is supporting young entrepreneurs, and therefore we work a lot with university students, not only at the American University in Cairo, but also with all students from Egyptian, Arab, and international public and private universities as well. We also focus on another axis, which is guidance, as the mentor for entrepreneurs plays a major role in the development of entrepreneurs and the growth of their companies. In this context, we are working to strengthen and maximize the role of the entrepreneurship mentor to guide entrepreneurs. The last axis within our activities at the center relates to small, medium and micro companies, where These companies are considered the real engine of the Egyptian economy, so we began to provide support to business development units that help small, medium and micro companies through multiple partnerships and consultants who support them in developing their strategy and how to establish financial solvency that covers their activities in these companies.
What are the means of assisting entrepreneurs? Is it technical or financial assistance?
As an American university, we are considered a non-profit university, and any activity or support for these companies is done through donors or local and international bodies such as the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank. We also provide professional support, for example we give training to mentors about their role as mentors to entrepreneurs, and we also attract entrepreneurs. We work to network them together and organize guidance sessions between a number of mentors and entrepreneurs, thus qualifying the entrepreneurs to have something like an advisory council that they can return to for any consultation or advice related to their business.
What are the most important programs that the center is currently working on?
We have two very important projects related to the economic empowerment of women, including the “Rabha” project, which is a project carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Office in Egypt and the National Council for Women, and with financial support from the Canadian government. This project aims to train women within 7 Egyptian governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Beheira, Fayoum, and Minya. and Beni Suef, and these women receive simple financial support at the end of their training program to develop their existing projects, which are small projects within these governorates. We also have other projects in different governorates in the Delta and Upper Egypt in cooperation with the American Embassy in Cairo. We also work in cooperation with the General Authority for the Capital Market in Egypt and the Egyptian Stock Exchange to monitor women’s representation on the boards of directors of companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase women’s representation on boards of directors. The percentage of listed companies on the stock exchange has reached 30% in these companies, and we have already monitored and it is expected that women’s representation on the boards of directors of these companies will reach 30% before 2030. There is also a large project that we are implementing with the support of the American agency with one of the international companies, and in partnership with Amazon to support small and medium-sized companies. For digital transformation, and therefore we give these companies digital transformation in operation, and we aim to help 25 Egyptian small and medium-sized companies for digital transformation, and these companies work in various fields such as technology, new and renewable energy, and creative and cultural industries such as handicrafts and traditional industries, and for this last category we help them develop their products. How to open new markets for export. We also help them display their products at local and international exhibitions.
How did the center contribute to the economic empowerment of some women?
We have success stories for many women, and we always measure the impact of the center’s role in the growth and development of these women’s companies and businesses, and in the event that their projects falter, we also help them know the reasons for the faltering to resolve these crises while developing programs that help them return again to the market and overcome this faltering.
What are the main groups that the center targets?
The center targets women entrepreneurs, without conditions of age or gender, in all governorates. It is not required to obtain an academic qualification, but we require literacy, technological knowledge, and how to deal with the Internet. As for the women who are candidates for representation on boards of directors, they have conditions such as obtaining a certain academic qualification and certain scientific and technical qualifications. We also target university students, whether before or after graduation, as well as the business community, including small and medium-sized companies and civil society organizations. We also have two important projects in cooperation with the American Agency, which is a project targeting outstanding high school students, where they receive a full scholarship, and we design an entrepreneurship program for them equipped with experts and mentors for them, as well as training seminars, with a focus on the problems facing their communities as well as problems related to climate and green changes. There are innovative ideas that come out of these students, and we organize competitions for them to present their ideas. They receive simple funding, and if the idea develops later, they can enter business incubators to implement these ideas.
How do you see the importance of financial technology for companies?
Financial technology and digital transformation are very important in the development of business, and we have a program that was conducted in partnership with the Bank of Egypt to provide women with financial culture, how to manage their securities, and how to enter the financial system. Although there are some fears among some women to enter the formal financial system, we advise them to do so in accordance with the development and growth. Their commercial and economic businesses, which helps them in the economic growth of their projects.
How do you see the challenges facing male and female entrepreneurs in Egypt?
Certainly, there are cultural challenges facing some working women, as well as the weakness of some women’s access to financing opportunities compared to men. There are challenges resulting from the current economic challenges, and the financing currently available may face some difficulties, but there are some emerging companies that have been able to obtain financing that has enabled them to develop, grow, and enter the markets. Foreign affairs such as the Gulf and Africa.
What is currently missing in the field of entrepreneurship?
We need more innovative ideas for entrepreneurs and creative solutions to economic difficulties. Young people in Egypt must have entrepreneurial thought, and this is more important than the fact that these young people have their own projects. Even if there is an employee in one of the companies, he must have innovation and creativity in implementing… His work is far from routine work.
There is development currently taking place in the field of artificial intelligence, and there are fears about its use in some jobs?
I see that there is no fear in this, but artificial intelligence will make future generations work better and it has a major role in many fields in terms of saving time and effort while carrying out work more accurately. It will not reduce the role of humans, although there is a need to research its use in a safe, ethical and harmless way for others. But it will not replace human jobs, but rather these jobs will develop in different forms.
What is the importance of startups in the Egyptian economy?
Start-ups have an important role in the Egyptian economy, and the Egyptian Council of Ministers recently established a unit composed of all ministers to support entrepreneurship in Egypt due to its provision of innovative solutions while providing business and job opportunities for many.
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